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Why Law & Order Guest Stars Liam Aiken and Michaela Watkins Look Familiar
Find out where you've seen Law & Order's latest guest stars, Michaela Watkins and Liam Aiken, before.
Liam Aiken may have played a law student-turned-killer on Season 24, Episode 7 of Law & Order, but he once fought against forces of evil in another onscreen project.
In Law & Order’s “Truth and Consequences” episode, Aiken took on the role of Thomas Norton, a third year law student who was furious with a well-known judge for rescinding a clerkship offer over his support of Palestine. When Thomas went to confront the judge, he found her husband home instead, and got into an altercation with him, bashing him in the head with a golf club. Thomas was arrested and charged with murder.
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If Aiken looked familiar in the role of Thomas, there’s a very good reason for that. Read on to find out what else Aiken has starred in, as well as why you likely recognize Michaela Watkins, one of the other accomplished guest stars who appeared in this episode.
What else has Liam Aiken appeared in?
Aiken once played the role of orphan Klaus Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, fighting against his deviously wicked guardian Count Olaf, played in the 2004 adventure film by Jim Carrey. Klaus and his clever siblings Violet (Emily Browning) and Sunny (Kara and Shelby Hoffman) managed to stay one step ahead of their conniving guardian who was intent on cashing in on the children’s inheritance by any means necessary.
Aiken also memorably played the role of mischievous, yet adorable, Ben Harrison — the son of divorced parents portrayed by Susan Sarandon and Ed Harris — in the tearjerker comedy drama film Stepmom.
In 2002, Aiken appeared in the crime drama film Road to Perdition. He played the role of Peter Sullivan, the youngest son of Tom Hanks’ character Michael Sullivan.
Later in his career, Aiken appeared in films like Good Boy!, The Killer Inside Me, Nor’easter, and The Emoji Movie.
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Chances are that Law & Order viewers also recognized the actress playing grieving judge Madeline Bennett in the episode.
Actress Michaela Watkins took on the role of the judge, who was so intent on hiding her own addiction to opioids, that she refused to take the stand in the trial of her husband’s killer.
District Attorney Nicholas Baxter (Tony Goldwyn) planned to subpoena Madeline to force her to give the details needed to land a murder conviction, but the New York City mayor intervened and told Baxter that if word got out about her addiction, her past cases could be overturned.
Baxter reluctantly agreed to look at the bigger picture and made the controversial decision to have Executive Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy) offer Thomas a deal to plead guilty to manslaughter, letting him off the hook on the more serious murder charges.
Watkins’ dramatic abilities were on full display in the episode, but she’s known for her comedic talents too.
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What else is Michaela Watkins known for?
Watkins, an alumna of the comedy troupe The Groundlings, spent one season as a featured play on Saturday Night Live from 2008 to 2009.
Beginning in 2015, Watkins starred as newly single mom Valerie for four seasons on the comedy-drama show Casual. She’s also known for sitcoms, including roles as Jackie Fisher on Trophy Wife, and as Delia in The Unicorn.
Watkins' lengthy list of TV credits also includes appearances on Search Party, Dinner with the Parents, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Enlightened, Transparent, and Get Shorty.
Watkins is also no stranger to the big screen and has appeared in films including The Back-up Plan, Wanderlust, Enough Said, Brittany Runs a Marathon, and The Way Back.
To find out who might pop up on Law & Order next, watch Season 24 on Thursdays at 8/7c p.m. on NBC or stream episodes the next day on Peacock.
