Law and Order fans exclaim ‘finally!’ as beloved SVU cast member given huge promotion
The next season of the Law and Order franchise has been making some huge changes to the cast, including a promotion for one fan-favourite star that's been a long time coming.
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Law and Order: Special Victims Unit star Kevin Kane has been promoted to series regular after recurring for two seasons on the hit NBC drama.
Kevin has proven to be a fan-favourite ever since his character Detective Terry Bruno was introduced back in season 24.
After proving his mettle to Captain Olivia Benson (played by Mariska Hargitay), he’ll now be a permanent member of the New York team going forward.
He first lent a hand during a case in the Bronx before moving his role to Manhattan, where he’ll now stay to investigate more chilling cases around the iconic city.
The actor was thrilled to announce the news on his Instagram page, and especially credited Mariska for helping him get a leg up on the series.
Back in March, he told TVLine: “I feel like [Mariska] kind of put a little heavy hand on the scale when this character came up…
“Because a couple years ago, she directed an episode that I was one of the guest leads of. So, that’s where we really bonded.”
In the season 20 episode Mea Culpa, Kevin clearly impressed producers by playing the husband of a woman who accused Peter Stone (Philip Winchester) of rape.
Many fans of the hit show clearly felt his upgrade was a long time coming and rushed to social media to congratulate the TV star.
One viewer replied on his Instagram post: “Congratulations! So glad we get to see more of Detective Bruno!”
Another exclaimed: “YES! Makes my day! You so deserve to be a series regular Kevin!”
Over on X (formerly Twitter), one particularly thrilled fan said: “FINALLY! I've been waiting for this to happen since he joined the show.”
Another simply yelled: “About time!!!” And someone else said: “They finally promoted Bruno.”
And a final fan commented: “I. AM. SCREAMING. SO excited about this—he was a great add from the first ep he was in—the dynamic with Ice is great, I’m loving this one!”
Also joining the SVU cast next season is Juliana Aidén Martinez, who’ll be playing a new detective.
Plus, over on the flagship series, TV veteran Maura Tierney, best known for ER, has joined the main cast as a new lieutenant.
Character details are being kept under wraps for those two, but fans should be finding out more ahead of the series’ return this October.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit season 26 premieres Thursday, October 3 on NBC.
