In Character: Christopher Meloni

Christopher Meloni is one of my favorite working actors. He has a magnetism that is so apparent in all of his work. Whether he's being absurd or psychotic, he can draw you in with equal weight. Here’s a look at Meloni’s best work, which often, remarkably, varies wildly in tone from role to role.

Five Essential Roles

Bound (1996)

Johnnie Marzzone

Johnnie Marzzone is a grade-A mob psychopath played with exquisite flair by Meloni. Johnnie keeps beating when he’s told to stop, kills because he feels like it, hits on taken women (in front of their boyfriends), and gets away with all of it because he’s the boss’s son. Johnnie is equal parts crazy and arrogant, and Meloni relishes his every move. Bound is a damn fine film, and watching Christopher Meloni and Joe Pantoliano go toe to toe throughout is certainly one of the movie’s highlights.

Law and Order: SVU (1999-2011)

Elliot Stabler

One could make the easy argument that Elliot Stabler is the Christopher Meloni role, and they wouldn’t be wrong. Meloni was a staple of SVU; he started in episode 1 and left 272 episodes later, in season 12. Elliot’s dedicated rage toward sex crime criminals was played in perfect contrast to Olivia Benson’s (Mariska Hargitay) compassionate take on their cases, resulting in one of the finest on-screen pairs in modern television. One can never tire of watching Elliot work an interrogation room, or struggle to maintain stability in his home life. Meloni’s work in SVU can largely be credited to the show’s continued binge-watching appeal.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

Gene

“Listen to me, you fucked-up little cigarette-smoking piece of shit. I was in the Vietnam War.” That’s just one pull quote to highlight Meloni’s hilarious work as Gene, but truly, you could print anything he says in this film and use it as a highlight of his performance. Gene is an enraged veteran in charge of feeding the residents of Camp Firewood. But he also has a soft side, which he usually reserves for obscure, inanimate objects that arouse his sexual desire. It’s also worth noting that Gene was Meloni’s breakout comedic role, proving that the actor really can play anything.

White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)

Brock Connors

As noted, I’m convinced Christopher Meloni can assume any role, but rarely do we see him capture a man as deflated as Brock Connors. His innocence and vulnerability are so palpable here. Brock is married to an emotionally unstable woman (Eva Green), but he tolerates her for the sake of keeping up appearances, and to help is daughter, Kat (Shailene Woodley). Brock spends much of the film pretending that everything is all right, but Meloni plays him in a way that makes it clear the character is about to unravel. And by the film’s end, Meloni quietly, expertly shows us that every person has a breaking point.

They Came Together (2014)

Roland

There are certainly “bigger” Meloni roles I could’ve included here (Dirty Movie, Small Time, Happy! – love him in them all) but I cannot ignore his scene stealing work in They Came Together. I don’t want to ruin the bit in print, but if you’ve seen the film, you’re unlikely to forget Roland struggling in a bathroom at a costume party. And that’s just the beginning. What happens after, once Roland is now in a different costume, is genuinely one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a recent movie.

Wild Card

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)

Freakshow

I’m including Meloni’s work as Freakshow for a few reasons. First, although Meloni is only in Harold & Kumar for a few minutes, he steals every second he is onscreen (and several more after; you can’t forget him). And second because, only until recently, I never actually knew Christopher Meloni was Freakshow. Priceless.

The Best of the Best

Oz (1998-2003)

Chris Keller

There were a lot of gruesome men in Oswald State Correctional Facility, but none played the game better than Chris Keller. As Keller, Christopher Meloni portrayed one of the most ruthless, manipulative and utterly charming psychopaths I have ever seen. He was easy to hate but hard to dislike. Meloni was in 38 of the show’s 56 episodes, and he is partly to thank for help making Oz such a groundbreaking show. Truly, in many ways, Oz started it all. Nothing like it had ever aired on television, and it paved way for all the now classic Golden Age TV shows many of us love. Oz changed television, and Meloni should absolutely be given his credit for that.

Now, beyond his amazing performance, it is utterly baffling that Meloni was even able to pull his work on Oz off. As he told James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio in 2016, “For about two or three years, I would wake up at 4:30, get in the van at 6:00, drive to Oz, kill people and sodomize them ‘til about noon, jump in the car, go to SVU, and go arrest people who murder and sodomize people ‘til about 2:00 a.m.”

How Meloni was able to pull off two incredible, contrasting performances at the same time is a testament to the actor’s work ethic, and skill.

Other Notable Roles

in Happy!

Twelve Monkeys (1995)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Runaway Bride (1999)

Nights in Rodanthe (2008)

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2009)

Dirty Movie (2011)

True Blood (2012)

42 (2013)

Man of Steel (2013)

Small Time (2014)
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)

The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)

Happy! (2017-2018)

Pose (2018)