‘Law and Order’ becomes first TV series filmed at UN HQ

The historic United Nations Headquarters building in New York played a starring role in the hit television series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit this weekend.

The cast and crew of the crime drama were at the landmark east side location on Saturday, 7 March, to film scenes for an episode that involves children in armed conflict as well as refugees.

Emmy-nominated actor Christopher Meloni, who plays tough cop Detective Elliot Stabler in the show, and Stephanie March, Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot, were part of the 200 person production, which marked the first time network television has been given access to film in the historic UN building.

The episode is slated to air on Tuesday, 24 March at 10 pm Eastern Standard Time and will showcase shots of the traffic circle outside the Secretariat, the Visitor’s Entrance Plaza, and the Public Lobby.

The collaboration with NBC Universal represents the first official project under the Secretary-General’s newly established Creative Community Outreach Initiative (CCOI), which aims to raise the profile of critical global issues in partnership with the international film and television industries

Sydney Pollack’s 2005 film, The Interpreter – a political thriller featuring Nicole Kidman, a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Fund for Women (UNIFEM) – was the first feature film to be shot in the building.