Ice T Was the Ultimate Hype Man When Wife Coco Was on SVU: “Let Me Say Something…”
Ice T was keen to congratulate his wife on landing her third SVU guest role.
While it’s no secret that Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is a magnet for dynamite guest stars, now and then, the NBC nail-biter gets a guest star super close to the elite squad. Case in point: Coco Austin’s guest appearances wherein she crosses paths with her husband, Ice T, as Sergeant Fin Tutuola.
In a 2012 episode of the couple’s reality TV series Ice Loves Coco, SVU fans got to see Austin land her guest role in Season 13’s “Theatre Tricks.” Austin was no stranger to the NBC procedural; Austin previously guest-starred in Season 5’s “Head” as well as Season 9’s “Fight,” so she’d already proven her capability of keeping up with the elite squad. As a casting director spoke with Austin, he revealed he was looking for someone specific for a role-within-a-role.
The episode dealt with three couples greeted by “the Roman goddess Venus” while attending an interactive theatre performance. The director was looking for someone who embodied “sexuality and love and beauty,” leading to his epiphany that Austin was a perfect fit for that character.
“That’s very cool, I’m taking that as a compliment,” Austin said, excited to tell Ice T about the thrilling development later on.
Ice T was so proud of his wife Coco for landing her SVU role
After she dished the details to her SVU star husband, Ice T couldn’t have been happier to welcome his wife back on set. In a private interview, Austin explained that she views Law & Order as her second family, so she felt a lot of pressure to deliver a grand-slam guest performance.
Ice T was over the moon for his wife, making sure to highlight how proud she should be about landing the gig.
“Let me say something to you about my show, they’re not doing any favors on that show,” Ice T told her. “And they would not have you on the set unless they were sure you could pull this off, so you should feel good about yourself. Congratulations!”
After Austin excitedly confirmed that she’d landed a speaking guest role on SVU, Ice T relished over how exciting it would be for her to be a guest star and potentially land other gigs down the line, soon veering into sarcasm territory.
“You’ll get bigger roles and other things will happen, and then you could pay the rent, and I can retire,” Ice T teased as his wife laughed.
On filming day, Ice T was also there to support his wife on set, watching proudly as Austin nailed her line and kissed a fellow guest star in one take. “You can’t get better than doing it in one take,” Ice T told his wife in a sit-down interview after filming. “That’s the final level, that’s top shelf acting right there. I’m very proud of you.”
Over the years, Austin has become a bit of an on-set SVU celebrity thanks to her husband’s mythic role on the show. When Austin’s on set, everyone is on set.
“I think whenever Coco is on the set, every single crew member somehow makes it to the set,” Ice T teased in an interview with The Huffington Post. “Every light man, every prop person, every electrical, every cook, somehow makes it to that set when Coco is going to shoot. We have more people on set when Coco shoots than any time in the history of Law & Order.”