After 12 seasons on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, Kelli Giddish has handed her badge in.
“I felt like where it was heading, and where it headed last night, just seemed the right place to leave it right now,” the star explained. “I am so excited about things going on in my personal life and kind of the mirroring of what’s going on in my personal life and in Rollins’, there’s a lot of joy to be experienced.”
“It’s funny because, after last night’s show, it does feel more final now. I didn’t expect today to feel that way,” Giddish, 42, said in an interview with People. “Now it’s over and everyone’s seen it. Everyone’s gotten to experience it and feel all the feels that I felt, filming that last scene with Mariska.”
She announced her departure from the show back in August, but the final episode featuring her character – Detective Amanda Rollins – aired last night.
“That relationship really developed organically over time into such a strong female relationship. And it wasn’t like I came on the show 12 years ago and we were like, ‘Hey, I’m going to be your best buddy,'” Giddish says of her relationship with co-star Mariska Hargitay.
“It wasn’t that. Every step of the way was earned, every hardship and every step back, Rollins had to fight her way back into being trusted again. So it was really fun to play and it kind of mirrors mine and Mariska’s relationship in real life.”
“On the show we’re single mothers, but in real life, we’re mothers to a few kids between us, and living in New York and raising them as working moms? The TV schedule is not glamorous,” she adds. “We work pretty hard, so every moment that we get with the kids is full-blown and full-tilt.”
