Anthony Anderson is not afraid to take fate into his own hands.
“We were, you know, we were two weeks out from ending our showBlack-ish. They made the announcement thatLaw & Orderwas coming back. So, I picked up the phone and called Dick Wolf up and said, Hey Dick, is it true?” he told correspondent Segun Oduolowu.
Eric Liebowitz/NBC
“He said, ‘It is.’ I was like, ‘Well, you know, I’m a free agent as of Nov. 19th,'” Anderson added. “And [Wolf] was like, ‘Anthony, you have no idea how happy this phone call makes me.’ "
The turnaround was fast, with Anderson arriving on theLaw & Orderset to begin filming less than a month later.
“I’m back in the shoes of Detective Kevin Bernard, doing what we do best: solving crimes, ripped from the headlines,” Anderson said.
Anderson originally appeared in 50 episodes during the crime procedural’s final seasons from 2008 to 2010 before went off the air at the end of its 20th season. He had also appearedon Law & Order: SVUseason 7 as another detective — Elliot Stabler’s temporary partner Lucius Blaine.
Virginia Sherwood/NBC
Anderson expressed his joy at reprising his role 12 years later — and after finding major success on the ABC sitcom,Black-ish, which is currently airing its final season.
“Black-ishcoming to an end is bittersweet,” Anderson said. “We had eight wonderful seasons. I believe the show could have gone on for infinity, but all the things come to an end. And, and, and as, as they say, one door closes and another one opens. I’m happy to be invited back toLaw & Orderto reprise my role as Detective Kevin Bernard.”
Along with workingLaw & Orderand bidding farewell toBlack-ish, Anderson is also gearing up to host Saturday night’s NAACP Image Awards for the ninth time.
“I like to think of it as my award show, just because I get to orchestrate it and be your conductor for the evening,” he says. “Just great to be in the conversation and in the presence of excellence and in everything that we do from television to literary, to film, to activism. And not only reward one another but to celebrate and encourage one another. And that’s what the image awards are all about.”
New episodes ofLaw & Orderair at 8 p.m. ET Thursdays on NBC. The 53rd NAACP Image Awards airs live Saturday, February 26 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on BET.
source: people.com
