Why Angela From Law & Order: Organized Crime Looks So Familiar

True crime shows and movies are especially popular these days, and it seems like there's always something new to watch. For those who watched Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU), you likely grew to love the partnership between Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), two of the lead detectives. If you just can't get enough of SVU, there's good news for fans of the long-running crime-drama — a spin-off featuring Stabler just aired its first episode on NBC.

The new show, Law & Order: Organized Crime, sees many returning faces from SVU. Aside from Benson and Stabler, we'll see appearances from Odafin Tutuola (Ice-T), Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), and even Stabler's son, Elliot "Eli" Stabler (Nicky Torchia). We'll also get to know some brand new characters, including Angela Wheatley, played by Tamara Taylor. Though she's new to Law & Order, she's no newbie when it comes to acting, and here's where you may have seen her.

Taylor's career began with roles on a number of shows, from detective dramas to situational comedies. Her very first TV role was on A Different World, with a small uncredited background part. In 1996, she landed her breakout role as a recurring character on the family drama Party of Five, where she played a social worker and counselor named Grace Wilcox.

Following her time on Party of Five, Taylor was in a couple of shows that only lasted a few seasons, including City of Angels (Dr. Ana Syphax) and Hidden Hills (Sarah Timmerman). She's also had small parts on several shows like Dawson's Creek (Laura Weston), Without a Trace (Tracy McAllister), Lost (Susan Porter/Susan Lloyd), and NCIS (Special Agent Cassie Yates), among others. Taylor's diverse resume is a testament to the hard work she's done to get to where she is now, and that ultimately landed her the role she's most known for.

If you don't recognize Tamara Taylor from one of the many shows she's appeared on, you probably know her for her longest-running part as Dr. Camille Saroyan on the procedural dramedy Bones. According to People Magazine, Taylor was originally slated for a guest role but was so well-liked they added her in as a permanent fixture. She portrayed the smart, tough pathologist from season 2 up until the show's end in season 12. 

As Bones was nearing its end in 2017, Taylor spoke to The Wrap about her time working on the show: "It's wild," she explained. "I think as actors, a 12-year run is more than we could've ever asked for. It's almost disrespectful saying, 'Oh, we're so bummed it's ending.' [But] I'd love to continue to play with my friends." We would've loved to see more of Dr. Camille Saroyan too, but with over 200 episodes under her belt, we definitely consider her time on the show to be a huge success.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is so expansive, it seems like it's harder than ever to find actors who haven't had a part in one of the many MCU projects. Taylor is no exception, as she portrayed the Chronicom alien Sibyl in the last season of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Though not every fan had good things to say about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it was an amazing performance by Taylor — she truly seemed to step out of her good-guy comfort zone to successfully portray the ruthless villain.

Taylor's long career is a feat in its own right when you consider that she overcame some pretty intense stage fright. In an interview with HuffPost, Taylor confessed that "the notion of being looked at and having to speak up was so scary. It's an odd paradox for someone as shy as me to want to do this for a living."

If you haven't yet had a chance to see Taylor in any of the varied projects she's been a part of, there's plenty of time to catch up with her in Law & Order: Organized Crime before the rest of the season airs.