The ‘Veep’ actor joined the long-running procedural in 2024
Credit: Virginia Sherwood/NBC via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Reid Scott will exit Law & Order after three seasons
- The Veep star joined the procedural in 2024 as Detective Vincent Riley
- James Badge Dale will step in to replace Scott’s character in the NYPD
Reid Scott is leaving Law & Order.
The actor, 48, joined the long-running cop drama in 2024 for season 23, and has played Detective Vincent Riley for the past three seasons. He joined after Jeffrey Donovan’s exit.
In season 26, though, Scott will depart and be replaced by James Badge Dale, who will step in as a new senior detective on the force, Deadline reported on Wednesday, July 22.
Credit: JC Olivera/Variety; Paul Archuleta/Getty
Scott’s exit, according to the outlet, was his choice. He has another year left on his contract but opted to exit since his family — he shares sons Conrad and Damon with wife Elspeth Keller — lives in Los Angeles.
PEOPLE reached out to a rep for Scott for comment.
Joining Law & Order fulfilled a longtime dream of his, Scott told Town and Country in 2024.
“I was probably the only one in my circle of actor friends who didn’t appear on the show. It was not for lack of trying, believe me. I wanted it so badly because it was a rite of passage when you’re 20, 21,” he said. “Everyone I knew was doing it, and for whatever reason, it never came my way.”
The show remained “in the back of my mind,” he said, and when he joined the series, it felt like he was finally “scratching this itch from 20 plus years ago.”
“I’ve never done anything like this before,” he told the outlet. “I’m still really enthralled by all that. How, wow, this thing, it just takes you. You show up on the day and you do the stunt, say the line; you clack the handcuffs on the bad guy; you are a super cop; and you give your testimony, and you go home. And then you rinse and repeat. So the challenge becomes: Can you keep up with that grueling schedule? Because it’s a marathon, having to do it week after week after week after week.”
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Credit: Virginia Sherwood/NBC via Getty
Filming on location in New York City has been a fun but “challenging” aspect of the job.
“There’s always something [going on],” Scott said on The Kelly Clarkson Show in February 2025. “But, by and large, this city embraces the show and it’s such a massive fan of the show. We get so much love wherever we go.”
Law & Order season 26 premieres Oct. 8 on NBC.
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