Mariska Hargitay plays Olivia Benson, the ambitious and emotionally driven detective, a role for which she won the 2006 Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.

The role also earned her a Golden Globe Award in 2004, two previous Emmy Nominations, three SAG Award nominations and a Gracie Allen Award for American Women in Radio and Television.

"As a woman, it's gratifying to play such a multi-layered part. Olivia is not only a competent, street-smart cop, she's also an empathetic woman who can respond emotionally to victims of terrible crimes without compromising her professionalism," says Hargitay.

Hargitay is also known to NBC viewers for her recurring role on "E.R." as Dr. Greene's (Anthony Edwards) girlfriend, Cynthia Hooper, in the 1997-98 season of the top-rated show.

She also gained notice as a cast regular in the sitcom "Can't Hurry Love" with Nancy McKeon and Louis Mandylor. Additional television credits include guest roles on NBC's "Seinfeld," "Ellen" and "thirtysomething," and starring roles on "Falcon Crest" and "Prince Street." Hargitay was also seen in the telefilms "The Advocate's Devil" and "Night Sins," as well as the Lifetime movie "Plain Truth."

Her film credits include the thriller "Lake Placid," written by David E. Kelley and starring Bridget Fonda, the critically acclaimed "Leaving Las Vegas," David Lynch's "Hotel Room," Bob Fosse's "Star 80," and Michael Rymer's "Perfume."

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Hargitay is the youngest daughter of screen legend Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay. She divides her time between New York and Los Angeles. The UCLA graduate speaks Hungarian, French and Italian.

Hargitay is married to actor Peter Hermann, who starred most recently in Universal/Working Title's "United 93" and has a recurring role on "SVU" as attorney Trevor Langan. The couple recently gave birth to their first child, a son.

A native of Washington, D.C., Christopher Meloni plays Detective Elliot Stabler. Meloni was nominated for his first Emmy Award in 2006 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

Meloni is recognized as one of the most versatile actors today, taking on challenging and diverse roles in both television and film. He is well known for his portrayal of the duplicitous inmate Chris Keller on HBO's critically praised series Oz. He moved to the right side of the law however, on "Law & Order: SVU" playing Detective Elliot Stabler.

"Stabler and I are alike in that we're focused on our job and couldn't see doing anything else with our lives," says Meloni about his character. "He's a rock solid guy, with a great capacity for compassion, the ironic, and the absurd. He can relish the small triumphs when they come and doesn't allow the horrors of his job to infect him."

His additional work in television includes guest appearances on "NYPD Blue," and "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Scrubs." He also starred in the series "Leaving L.A." and in several miniseries, including "In a Child's Name" and "Mario Puzo's The Last Don."

Meloni received much critical praise for his theatrical work last summer at the prestigious Gate Theater in Dublin for his starring role in Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge" in which he played Eddie Carbone. The Irish Times called him "…the real thing, tremendously forceful presence with all the confidence fame brings and none of the self-indulgence."

On the big screen, Meloni was seen in the New Line comedy "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" with an ensemble that includes Anthony Anderson, Jamie Kennedy and Ryan Reynolds. He also appeared in the independent film "Wet Hot American Summer," which screened at the Sundance Film Festival. Starring opposite Janeane Garafolo and David Hyde Pierce, Meloni was singled out for his performance as a temperamental chef working at a summer camp. His other film credits include "Runaway Bride," in which he starred opposite Julia Roberts as her sports-enthusiast fiancé, as well as in "Twelve Monkeys," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "Junior" and "Bound." He got his first big break as the lead in NBC's comedy "The Fanelli Boys."

As pragmatic Capt. Donald Cragen, Dann Florek reprises the role he originated on the first three seasons of sister series "Law & Order." Prior to the debut of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," Florek also got the chance to play Cragen in the "Law & Order" movie "Exiled."

Raised in Flat Rock, Michigan, Florek entered Eastern Michigan University as a math and physics major but left with a newfound interest in drama. "I really thought I was going to be a math/physics person, but I was in choir, and they offered me a scholarship in drama," says Florek. "I thought, hey, maybe it'll be more fun than synthetic projective geometry."

Florek went on to join the prestigious Acting Company at the Juilliard School in New York City. His professional theater work includes "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Love's Labours Lost," "Strange Snow" and "Death of a Salesman." Later, he headed west to San Diego, where he participated in many La Jolla Playhouse and Old Globe Theatre productions, most notably as The Duke in "Big River" and as Teach in The Old Globes award-winning production of "American Buffalo". Florek gained attention for his portrayal of direct-marketing whiz Dave Meyer on the Emmy Award-winning "L.A. Law." Florek's additional television credits include guest-starring roles on NBC's "Wings" and "The Pretender," as well as "The Practice," "NYPD Blue," "Roseanne," "Ellen," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and "Smart Guy." He also starred as Abraham Lincoln on the controversial series "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer." Florek also appeared in the telefilms "The Pentagon Wars" and the Emmy Award-winning "From the Earth to the Moon."

Florek has appeared in such feature films as Paul Mazursky's "Moon Over Parador," Blake Edward's "Sunset," Alan Parker's "Angel Heart," Alan Alda's "Sweet Liberty," "The Flintstones," "Hard Rain," and "Beautiful Joe."

After first portraying Det. John Munch on NBC's critically acclaimed drama series "Homicide: Life on the Street" for seven seasons Richard Belzer reprises his role as acerbic Detective John Munch. His character transferred from Baltimore to New York to join the crime unit.

"This is one conspiracy in which I was a willing participant," says Belzer, a renowned conspiracy theorist. In fact, Belzer has played Detective Munch on a record number of television series— "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Homicide," "The X-Files" and "The Beat."

The veteran standup comic, actor, talk-show host and author was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Due to his "uncontrollable wit," Belzer was politely asked to leave every school he ever attended. He first worked as a reporter for the Bridgeport Post and several other newspapers around the country. This interest in journalism is traced directly to his days as a paperboy in his hometown. Belzer honed his life experiences into barbed comedic material drawn from other former jobs including teacher, census-taker, jewelry salesman and dockworker.

Belzer began his career in show business with a starring role in "Groove Tube," the counterculture film that went on to become a cult classic. Since then, Belzer's comedic talents have been featured in every entertainment medium from off-Broadway ("The National Lampoon Show" with Bill Murray, Gilda Radner and John Belushi) to radio ("Brink and Belzer" on WNBC) to film ("Fame," "Author, Author," "Night Shift" and "Scarface"). He also appeared as himself in the Andy Kaufman biopic "Man on the Moon." His other film credits include "Species II," "Get on the Bus," "Girl 6," "A Very Brady Sequel," "North," "The Bonfire of the Vanities" and "The Big Picture." Additionally, Belzer starred in his own HBO comedy special, "Another Lone Nut," and released a comedy CD of the same title. He hosted the primetime special "When Cars Attack," starred in the six-part comedy Showtime series "The Richard Belzer Show," hosted the live Lifetime talk show, ‘Hot Properties,' and Court TV's "Crime Stories."

Belzer is also the author of "UFOs, JFK and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have to Be Crazy to Believe," and is the co-author of "How to Be a Standup Comic." Belzer hosted and produced "The Belzer Connection," a series of conspiracy-theory prime time specials for the SCIFI Channel. He is currently writing, producing, and starring in a sketch comedy-style feature-film satire, "This is America." for Madonna's Maverick Films. A companion book is being published by Judith Regan's imprint, Regan Books.

Belzer was honored by the New York Friars Club and the Toyota Comedy Festival as the honoree of the first ever roast that was open to the public. Comedians and friends on the dais included Roast Master Paul Shaffer, Christopher Walken, Danny Aiello, Barry Levinson, Robert Klein, Bill Maher, "SVU" co-stars Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, Ice-T, and Dann Florek, and "Law & Order's" Jerry Orbach.

Belzer and his wife, actress Harlee McBride, live in New York City while filming the series and in France during the remainder of the year.

B.D. Wong plays Dr. George Huange, a forensic psychiatrist and expert on the criminal mind, whose insight into the minds of the accused, often provides significant clues that lead to the resolution of a case.

Wong gained notice as a cast regular on the critically acclaimed series "Oz", playing the resilient prison priest Father Ray for the show's five-season run. Other television credits include a starring role in "All-American Girl", "And the Band Played On," "Welcome to New York," "Chicago Hope," "The X-Files," "Bless This House" and "Shannon's Deal."

Wong has also appeared in more than 20 feature films, including Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park," "The Freshman" opposite Marlon Brando and Matthew Broderick, "Father of the Bride" (the original and sequel), "Seven Years in Tibet," "Executive Decision," and most recently "The Salton Sea" starring Val Kilmer and Vincent D'Onofrio. Wong can also be heard as the voice of Shang in the Disney animated film "Mulan" and "Mulan II." He will soon be seen in Marc Forster's "Stay" starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.

Wong is the only actor ever to have received all five major New York theater awards for a single role. For his performance in "M. Butterfly," his Broadway debut, he received the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Theater World Award, and the Clarence Derwent Award. Additional New York theater credits include "The Tempest," "A Language of Their Own," "As Thousands Cheer," and the Broadway musical revival of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" in a critically acclaimed performance as Linus. Last season, Wong starred in the Roundabout Theatre's production of Stephen Sondheim's "Pacific Overtures" for which he received a Drama League nomination for distinguished performance.

Ice-T stars as detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola. This is his fourth project with executive producer Dick Wolf after the 1997-98 series "Players," NBC's "Exiled: A Law & Order Movie," and several memorable guest-starring appearances on Wolf's gritty cop series "New York Undercover."

Ice-T not only invented gangster rap, he has lived it. Ice-T is the original embodiment of LA Hip-Hop. Through his music, his book ("The Ice Opinion," St. Martin's Press), and his lecture tours of America's prisons, high schools, libraries and colleges (including Harvard, Berkeley, and Stanford), Ice-T has become an influential spokesman for America's youth, regardless of color.

Born in New Jersey, Ice-T learned the art of survival pretty fast. As an only child whose parents died when he was very young, Ice-T became involved in Los Angeles gangs before spending four years in the army.

His first break came when the producers of the film "Breakin'" asked him to rap in the movie. He went on to become rap music's original gangster, writing songs like "Six in the Mornin" and "New Jack Hustler."

Ice-T formed Rhyme Syndicate Records in 1989 and released a string of groundbreaking West Coast rap records. He subsequently formed the thrash metal band Body Count with close high school friend and guitarist Ernie C. Body Count's 1991 self-titled debut contained the controversial single "Cop Killer." Body Count was the most critically acclaimed act on the highly successful 1991 Lollapalooza tour, and continued to tour worldwide.

Ice-T has received a Grammy Award and was voted Best Male Rapper in Rolling Stone's 1992 Readers Poll.