Throughout its long run, the Law & Order franchise has seen a lot of guest stars. Many were then-up-and-coming actors, while others already had quite the filmography under their belts. One big recurring guest star on Organized Crimehas been Ellen Burstyn. The Exorcist star has been showing up from time to time on the NBC drama since Season 2 as Bernadette Stabler, the mother of Christopher Meloni’s Elliot Stabler. It wasn’t necessarily their on-screen roles that bonded them, though. Instead, it was the popular horror movie and her TV son dropping a line from it on the show.
Burstyn starred in The Exorcistback in 1973 as Chris MacNeil. To this day, the film is considered one of the best horror movies, it has several sequels, and it was the highest-grossing Rated R film until It came out. While Meloni was interviewing her for Interview Magazine, the actress couldn’t help but bring up how the movie played a significant part in their relationship, and it hit close to home:
You know what I was thinking about yesterday? One day on set [of Law & Order: Organized Crime], you said, ‘Why do you do this to me, Dimi?’ It’s a line from The Exorcist. And I was so stunned because my son in real life says that line to me. When you said it, it was like I was in two realities at once.
It’s like two worlds colliding. Not only is that line from The Exorcist, but it already means something special to Burstyn because her son says it to her a lot. Now, throw in her on-screen son saying it, and the meaning is extra special. Considering Burstyn has been in 13 episodes of Organized Crime, their bond has definitely grown since then, and in part thanks to The Exorcist.
That’s not the only way they’ve bonded, however. Christopher Meloni explained that since he lost his mom a couple of years ago, he feels like Burstyn has become another motherly figure in his life. Burstyn is a mother of one, so she has experience. It also helps that it seems like the two of them immediately hit it off as well as she said:
Yeah. It’s very easy. It’s like slipping into a pair of old shoes. I slipped into being your mother.
Ellen Burstyn’s most recent appearance on Law & Order: Organized Crime was Season 3, Episode 20, back in May. Whether or not she will appear in Season 4 is unknown. With the WGA writers’ strike done, it may not be long until Organized Crime gets back to work. If they can ever find a new showrunner, that is. Hopefully, Mrs. Stabler will come back because seeing the relationship between her and Elliot is always sweet. Now, knowing how close Burstyn and Meloni are in real life makes it even better.
Burstyn can currently be seen reprising her role as Chris MacNeil in the new film The Exorcist: Believer, which just premiered on the 2023 TV schedule. The horror film has received mixed reviews, even though it is a direct sequel to the original, with Linda Blair reprising her role from the first movie too. Maybe with this movie, Meloni will have a new quote he can recall to his on-screen mother. That way, their bond can be even more special.
Even if it will be a while until Burstyn comes back to Organized Crime, it’s clear their friendship goes far beyond the series. Fans can always sign up for a Peacock subscription to watch the Stablers’ best moments.