Fairfield County Actor Appears on 'Law & Order'

EASTON, Conn. – Matt LaGuercio, a professional actor who lives in Easton, will appear in “Valentine’s Day,” an episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" on Wednesday, April 18, at 10 p.m. on NBC.

The performance is one of the high points of LaGuerico’s career, which includes everything from Off-Broadway shows to Wendy’s commercials.

He first appeared on "Law & Order" in 2004, playing a character named Mr. Carson in the season’s final episode.

The casting director, Jonathan Strauss, remembered his performance and invited him back after LaGuercio was in his office with his son, who was asked to come in to meet an agent. “My son was too polite, but when Strauss saw me they called me in for an audition,” he said. “I went in and did one take and two days later they offered me the role.”

LaGuercio declined to provide details on his role because of orders from NBC not to reveal the plot. But he said, “I’m in eight scenes and have a lot of screen time with Chloe Sevigny, not all of it verbal. Every character goes through twists and turns on the show, but I didn’t kill anybody.” Sevigny was raised in Darien.

LaGuercio’s advice for aspiring actors is “to take meet and greet classes to meet casting directors,” he said. He took a class and met Julie Tucker, the original casting director for "Law and Order." At the time, three versions of "Law and Order" were airing, “And if you’re an actor in New York and you haven’t been in one of those shows, why?” he said.

After this role, he’s not looking for more TV work. “It’s the end of the season so I’m not looking for new TV now,” he said. “I’m hoping it will lead to people wanting to call me in. I’m doing a lot of social networking and looking for other projects. I’ve been involved in a horror film for the last two years, which may shoot this summer. It’s a more intelligent 'Blair Witch Project.'"

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