Law & Order: SVU Promotes Octavio Pisano to Series Regular in Season 23
McGrath’s mole is going to stick around the squad room for the foreseeable future.
Octavio Pisano has been promoted to series regular on Law & Order: SVU, TVLine has learned.
The actor first appeared on the NBC procedural earlier this season when his character. Det. Joe Velasco, was a super-secret undercover officer involved in SVU’s bust of Congressman Howard. He later helped Rollins track down one of the politician’s missing victims, cajoling her into helping the police by sharing a traumatic story from his own abusive childhood. After he was successful, however, Velasco admitted to Rollins that he’d embellished the story in order to secure the victim’s participation. (Read a full recap.)
In the Oct. 7 episode, Velasco was assigned to a more permanent position at SVU, leading Benson and her team to suspect that he was there to spy on the team and relay information to his old boss, Chief McGrath.
Pisano played Sultan in CBS All Access’ Coyote. His other TV credits include If Loving You Is Wrong and the pilot for the revival of Dick Wolf’s New York Undercover, on which ABC passed in 2019.
Are you looking forward to seeing more of Velasco around the police station? Sound off in the comments!
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Oh I’m so very happy. He can do it all. Please keep him. He’s great looking and can really act. Thank you for the promotion.
He’s a keeper! I am glad he is sticking around.
So far I like him. Good addition!! Seems like a New York cop in a good way.
So the revolving door of SVU continues. I’ll say this he’s got more charm than Kat and Garland did still doesn’t make up for him being the corrupt Chief’s pet lapdog.
But hopefully, it’ll be rewarding when he finally disses that dummy & shows his allegiance to his new Squad. 👍
Hopefully. I want him to stay.
Great news. I like him so far. Hopefully he won’t be spy for long.
🙌YAY!!!!! They BETTER keep him in the long run tho. He’s great addition to squad.
I’m on the fence with his character.
New eye candy is welcome.
What took TV Line so long to report that? One of the SVU websites already announced this a month ago.
Figured he’d be a regular from his first appearance even tho I prefer Kat to have stayed but I don’t mind him being there. He’s eye candy so far so good.
Just don’t have him flirting with Rollins. Please.
Okay, I guess.
Glad he will be back, hope they add another detective to the squad. They really need to reduce Olivia’s role. It is foolish that a person in her position is so involved in every case. I know she is the star but the show is show much better when there is a bigger cast to tell the stories!
Just like the old days, when the investigation of the case was the premise for each episode. Not the trials and tribulations of Olivia Benson.
Nice addition as the team really needs some younger folks. At some point people age out of dept. Fin & Olivia don’t seem like they would be running after people at this point. New blood is needed!
Kat and Garland for him? No thank you! This guy is weak as heck! Bring back Kat and Garland! Oh, and let McGrath get shot by a baby holding his mother’s gun!
Velasco working with the squad can turn out to be another example of good character development. He could find himself questioning McGrath’s motivation and methods. He might develop empathy and respect for the victims and truly learn from Captain Benson’s trayectory and affirmations.
From what I have seen of him, his integrity may be in question. When he talked down that girl on the roof by telling her a sob-story and then told Rollins he fudged some of it, I question his honesty now. Everything he says now I am taking with a grain of salt.
I don’t know this actor from next Tuesday, but I’m not thrilled with the character he plays. Lap-dog/spy? Yuck. SVU’s execs couldn’t come up with a couple of normal detectives? I don’t think the squad room’s ever been this short-staffed.
Since they seem to be on a shoe string budget (Why I don’t know), they reduced the number of the cast. Have you noticed over the years the production value has been cheapened also. Mariska Hargitay is an Executive Producer, so maybe it gives her a very good opportunity for more face time and dialogue. I wonder if this is why the show has lost many rating points over the years.
I hope to see more of Octavio Pisano on SVU. The importance of adding Latino like characters to the show is a plus.