Law & Order season 24 will start off with an explosive case that thrusts ADA Samantha Maroun into the spotlight, says actress Odelya Halevi.
“She takes center stage,” Halevi, who plays Maroun on the NBC drama, exclusively told Us Weekly of the season premiere, which airs Thursday, October 3, noting that the case involves a Brooklyn prosecutor who gets murdered in her apartment.
According to Halevi, 35, Maroun knows the victim personally and is “really affected by it.” That connection leads Maroun to “investigate” the crime and take the lead at trial.
“She really takes desperate measures to get an eyewitness to testify because this case really affects her personally,” the actress said, revealing, “It really reminds her of her sister’s death and the murder and rape of her sister, and fact that she wasn’t able to be there [to help].”
Maroun previously shared that her sister was raped and murdered in Georgia, and although law enforcement knew who the killer was, they couldn’t file charges. That injustice will spill over into the season 24 premiere case.
“Through anger and sadness and frustration, she is determined to bring justice and win this case against all odds,” Halevi told Us.
While Maroun is battling to put her friend’s killer behind bars, she will have the support of her longtime coworker, Executive ADA Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy), even if the two don’t always see eye to eye.
“What the audience is gonna see in the first episode [is] the struggle between personally taking care of each other as friends, as coworkers [and] as people who have known each other for a few years and spent a lot of hours together,” Halevi teased of their dynamic. “[And them] challenging each other and doing what’s right for the case itself. There’s always that struggle.”
She noted that Price and Maroun have “highs and lows,” but this season you’ll see them “keep challenging each other to think outside of the norm” and “push each other to be their better selves.”
Maroun’s best self will be front and center this season, Halevi told Us, sharing that with every episode, viewers will “learn more about Maroun’s strength and determination.”
She teased, “We’re gonna learn more details about her past and struggles in life growing up with immigrant parents, being a minority, her ability to win against all odds and going in full power with what she believes in and ignoring the naysayers.”
In addition to getting to see more of Maroun’s story, fans will also be introduced to a new character, Lieutenant Jessica Brady, played by Maura Tierney.
“Her character is a veteran detective. She pays attention to details, and she sees things that no one else does,” Halevi told Us of newcomer Brady. “She makes people take accountability, which is going to create a new and interesting dynamic in the precinct between [Detective Vincent] Riley and [Detective Jalen] Shaw. It’s gonna challenge them.”
While Tierney, 59, is new to the Law & Order family — apart from a one-episode role in 1991 — Halevi noted that she’s an “amazing actor” who didn’t need any pointers. “Who am I to give Maura Tierney advice?” Halevi teased. “Come on. She could give me advice. I look up to her. I wouldn’t dare!”
Halevi gushed that she’s been a “longtime fan” of the ER alum, and she is just happy to “finally” have someone on the show that’s her height. “I’ve been struggling this whole time on an apple box,” she said with a laugh, calling Tierney an “incredible human being.”
Law & Order season 24 premieres on NBC Thursday, October 3, at 8 p.m. ET.
