NBC’s Law & Order is filling a vacancy in its regular cast.
Star Trek: Discovery alum David Ajala has joined the long-running crime procedural, where he’ll play an NYPD detective alongside Reid Scott’s Vincent Riley. Ajala’s first appearance on the show will come partway through the season; Law & Order opens its 25th campaign Thursday night.
Ajala’s casting comes two months after Mehcad Brooks, who played Detective Jalen Shaw for three seasons, departed the series. In a somewhat unusual setup for the series — which has almost always featured two lead detectives investigating homicides — Scott’s character will not have a partner for the first few episodes.
Scott and the rest of the regular cast from season 24 — Maura Tierney, Hugh Dancy, Odelya Halevi and Tony Goldwyn — are returning for the coming season.
Ajala played Cleveland Booker for three seasons on Star Trek: Discovery. He’ll next be seen in Netflix’s movie The Woman in Cabin 10, which is set to premiere Oct. 10. Other credits include MGM+’s Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue, a recurring role on Supergirl, The Jetty at the BBC and USA Network’s Falling Water. He is repped by CAA, Independent Talent Group, Strand Entertainment and Goodman Genow.
Dick Wolf, Rick Eid, Alex Hall and Peter Jankowski executive produce Law & Order.