How Tony Goldwyn Was Part of Law & Order Years Before He Became DA Nicolas Baxter
Long before Tony Goldwyn joined Law & Order as Manhattan’s top prosecutor D.A. Nicholas Baxter in Season 23, the award-winning actor worked on the Dick Wolf procedural — in a role behind the camera. Indeed, Goldwyn’s ties to the Law & Order franchise go all the way back to 2006.
If you’re an old school Law & Order franchise completist, you might be thinking Goldwyn’s guest starring role on Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Frank Goren, the older half-brother of Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) in Seasons 6 and 7, marked the beginning of his career within this universe. But Goldwyn’s very first debut into the Law & Order fold came the year before his on-screen debut when he directed a memorable episode starring Law & Order legends such as Sam Waterson, who played D.A. Jack McCoy for 19 seasons.
Tony Goldwyn directed an episode of Law & Order in 2006
After directing two feature films — A Walk on the Moon (1999) and Someone Like You (2001) — and numerous episodes of television series including Grey’s Anatomy and The L Word, Goldwyn was hired to direct Law & Order’s Season 16 episode, “Thinking Makes It So,” which aired on March 29, 2006. At the time, it was only the fifth television series Goldwyn had directed on, but it left a great impression because he was back just a year later… as an actor.
In a January 2025 interview with Next Avenue, Goldwyn spoke about his lack of concern in taking the role of DA Baxter because of prior experiences in the Law & Order universe. “I had directed an episode with Sam [Waterston], and I had played a character in one of the other Law & Order shows, Criminal Intent,” he said of his previous work. “So I was familiar with the world. It’s such a New York institution that it felt like it’d be something great to be a part of.”
Goldwyn also expressed his gratitude for “the people” who work on Law & Order. “It’s an incredibly well-run show and to be a part of a big machine like Law & Order, it’s been going for so long and everybody involved is so committed to it,” he said. “I’m so grateful and happy to be there. It’s a pleasure to go to work every day. It’s really fun. There’s no drama, no dysfunction; it’s great.”
Through the decades, Goldwyn has racked up a long list of directing credits, including nine episodes of Scandal, which he starred in as President Fitzgerald Grant III from 2012 to 2018 alongside Kerry Washington, whom he hopes to reunite with on the Law & Order set soon.
“I’m working on her,” Goldwyn told NBC Insider about the possibility of Washington appearing as a guest star on Law & Order with her former co-star. “She’s a mother and a busy person, and she lives in California, so it’s a little difficult for her. But I’m trying to guilt her into it.”