‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ actor B.D. Wong, who portrays forensic psychiatrist Dr. George Huang on the hit police drama, has said he most likely won’t be returning for the upcoming 13th season, TVLine is reporting. During the “What Would BD Do” marathon on the USA Network on July 17, the actor tweeted “I actually do not return for Season 13. I am jumping to ‘Awake!’ It’s awesome!”
During NBC’s upfront presentation announcing the 2011-12 schedule, Wong said ‘SVU’s producers “gave me the blessing to do (the ‘Awake’ pilot), which was really nice. But I don’t really know if I can do both or not.” The actor will portray a major role on ‘Awake,’ which debuts mid-season. He’ll play one of two psychiatrists who treat Jason Isaacs’ troubled police officer character in separate realities. Cherry Jones will play the other therapist.
While Wong would be available to return to ‘SVU’ in the fall to say goodbye, he tweeted “I don’t know if or when I’ll be back (on ‘SVU’)! It was amazing to have such a cool job for 11 years and to be a real NY Actor.”
The news of Wong’s exit comes after original cast Christopher Meloni announced in May that he’ll be leaving the show. Mariska Hargitay also announced she’ll appear in fewer episodes, as her character, Detective Olivia Benson, will be promoted. ‘Cold Case’s Danny Pino and ‘Chase’s Kelli Giddish have been hired to replace Meloni and Hargitay.
Written by: Karen Benardello
