8.30PM THURSDAY / JUNE 12

Robin Williams guest stars in the 200th episode of Law & Order: SVU as Merritt Rook, a man who plays dangerous mind games with innocent people in order to trick them in to committing criminal acts. Masquerading as a policeman, Rook telephones a restaurant manager (Scott Adsit) and forces him to bound, gag and strip search one of his female employees. Stabler and Benson investigate and discover that Rook isn't a policeman and has a sick habit of conducting these hoaxes all over the city. Although they manage to take Rook to trial, he ingeniously gets himself off and develops a large following by fellow supporters who admire his desire to make people aware that there are risks involved by leading unquestioning lives.

Law & Order: SVU Executive Producer Neal Baer said, "We are thrilled that one of the most talented and versatile actors around will be starring in this powerful and complex special 200th episode. We can't imagine anyone else doing this role." - Courtesy of NBC

Robin Williams Q&A
What interested you most about the character?
The idea that he is basically trying to get people to question authority, to not just blindly follow, was appealing to me.

Were there any surprises when you got to the set?
I didn’t know how funny Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni were. I found out later that Chris had been on Oz and that scared me. They were hysterical, and Diane Neal (ADA Casey Novak) can hold her own with any comic I know.

How on earth did you cope with the incredible hotness of Hargitay and the seething manliess of Meloni?
It’s more the seething manliness of Hargitay and the incredible hotness of Meloni.
* Robin Williams launched his acting career on television playing the title character in “Mork and Mindy”.
* This guest role in SVU is his first guest role since Friends in 1997.
* He has earnt critical acclaim for his dramatic performances, winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in “Good Will Hunting”, as well as nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role for “The Fisher King, Dead Poet’s Society and “Good Morning Vietnam”.