Maura Tierney Just JoinedLaw & Order— but Did You Know She Guest-Starred on the Show in 1991?

Mar. 15, 2025

Maura Tierney on the Oct. 10, 2024, episode of ‘Law & Order’.Photo:Virginia Sherwood/NBC

Virginia Sherwood/NBC

Maura Tierneyremembers her first guest appearance onLaw & Orderin surprising detail, 33 years later.

But as hostSavannah Guthriepointed out, Tierney’s history withLaw & Ordergoes all the way back to 1991, when the then-26-year-old actress guest-starred as the sister of a victim in a season 2 episode.

Maura Tierney in 2024.Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Tierney displayed some truly impressive recall of the episode’s plot. “The story was my sister was an actress and my mother was a big stage mom, and the mom was pushing the sister to do adult films,” she explained. “And then, so, the sister committed suicide, and the mom was charged with manslaughter.”

The hosts played clips from the episode for Tierney, andAl Rokerasked what advice she would give to her younger self.

“Oh, I would just tell her to relax, man,” Tierney joked. “Look, you’ll be fine!”

Tierney also discussed what it was like playing a tense scene oppositeLaw & Order: SVUstarMariska Hargitay, who guest-starred in the most recent episode ofLaw & Order.

“It was great. It was only the second episode, so it was really fun for her to come over,” Tierney said. “She has a really big, very warm personality. Plus, everyone’s stoked when Olivia comes over to our thing. It was really fun, and it’s fun that the characters … kind of butt up against each other.”

Maura Tierney in ‘ER’ in 2000.NBC/Newsmakers/Getty

NBC/Newsmakers/Getty

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“It’s a great, great show,” Tierney said ofER. “And I did come in in the middle, but I think it continued to be great. People watched it during the pandemic, and all new generations learned about it. It’s such a really high quality, great show and I do keep in touch with sort of the last half of the cast. Like,Linda Cardellini’s a good friend of mine,Parminder [Nagra],John Stamos.”

“It was a big deal,” she added. “It was eight years of my life that I was with these people, so it was a real bonding experience.”

source: people.com