Law & Order: SVU hit with cast shake-up as 2 stars leave the show | HELLO! (2025)

will see some noticeable changes after season 26, as two actors are leaving the show.

Octavio Pisanoand Juliana Martinez will not be returning as series regulars should the NBC show be picked up for a 27th season. While it has not been renewed yet, it is expected to be soon.

Octavio, 38, has been on the long-running show since season 23, portraying former undercover detective Joe Velasco.

Juliana, 34, is the newest face on the show, joining the Special Victims Unit as Detective Kate Silva, who was a homicide detective in the Brooklyn Homicide Unit before becoming a member of Captain Olivia Benson's squad.

The current season will air its final episode on May 15, and while there is no news yet about a renewal, it was announced in April that former series writer and co-executive producer, Michele Fazekas, will become the first female showrunner in the show's history.

Before she joined the show in October 2024, Juliana shared her excitement about working with her new co-stars.

"I have a journal that I'm collecting of Ice-T quotes, just that I write in every day. If you see him on Instagram, he's dropping gems, but it's 10 times that on set," she told People.

"He is definitely Yoda for me," she added. "Octavio is fantastic. It's really nice also just having another fellow Latino on the team, and he's been incredibly welcoming and supportive.

"Kevin [Kane], I've also been a fan of, we have a lot of mutual friends," she continued. "Peter Scanavino makes me laugh. He can quote anything in a movie ever, and he's incredibly funny. It's an absolute treat."

Season 26 concluded filming in April, and Mariska Hargitay, who has played Olivia Benson since the beginning, shared an emotional goodbye in more ways than one.

Taking to Instagram, Mariska posted a photo of herself alongside her castmates and revealed they'd wrapped filming on the current season.

She wrote: "And that’s a wrap on season 26! Thank you team happy hiatus," and her fans and famous friends commented that they'll miss seeing her on TV but to enjoy her break.

However, Mariska's next social media post sparked a different reaction as she paid tribute to legendary TV and film director and producer Ted Kotcheff whose huge body of work included many episodes of Law & Order SVU.

"I have encountered few artistic flames that have burned as brightly and for so long as Ted Kotcheff’s," she wrote. "He was a fierce, bold, lion of a man, uncommonly articulate, with a wealth of experience and a portfolio of cinematic knowledge few can claim."

Mariska called him her "teacher and friend," and said he had "made my success a priority in his life."

She concluded her message by saying: "I will miss you immensely. Goodbye for now. Big kiss darling."

Her fans called her tribute "beautiful," and said: "May his memory always shine."

Tim died on April 10 at the age of 94.