Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Going, Going Goren

A MERCURIAL TV detective is hanging up his badge for or new challenges as a director, writes Darren Devlyn on Wed 28, 2006

Vincent D’Onofrio ranks as one of the most intuitive actors of his generation. His skill has never been on greater display than in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, in which he plays the mercurial Det Bobby Goren. The actor, who has appeared in a string of movies including The Player, Full Metal Jacket and Men in Black, is renowned for using his intense gaze, body language and timbre of his voice to bring texture to his work. It could be argued his performance as Goren is his role with the greatest veracity. In an interview from the set of the Channel 10 drama, D’Onofrio tells how he’s relentless in his pursuit of a fully-rounded, multi-dimensional performance. He also reveals he has big ambitions to work as a director and to find feature film roles that fulfil his deepest artistic yearnings. These are the reasons, he says in shock news, that he’s walking away from Criminal Intent.

„I’m at the age where I’m having a pretty good time in life and I want to do some directing now, stay away from acting just a little while,“ D’Onofrio explains. „I haven’t sorted the actual departure date out yet, but I won’t be there (Criminal Intent) much longer.“ „You see, I’ve never seen myself as a leading man. I want to be a character actor. I don’t care if a script is for a five-minute role or a major role, I want to approach things simply. If I like the role, I’ll play it.“ „So I’m not leaving the show because I have some idea that I want to be a star.“

The Criminal Intent team, including creator Dick Wolf and leading lady Kathryn Erbe, has been told of D’Onofrio’s plans. D’Onofrio hoses down suggestions that castmates should be worried about their immediate employment prospects. He is hopeful the show will „go on forever“ without him.

„There might be some who find it hard to imagine the show without me, but it should continue because of the level of talent there,“ D’Onofrio says. „And what can I say about Kate (Erbe)? We have grown together in this show. TV is unlike any other medium and it can be tough going.“ „It’s been four years of working constantly. It’s like being on a train that never stops. Both of us have been through the ringer with our personal lives and she has become like my sister.“ „It feels like we’ve been through this small, personal war together. She is just the greatest gal and she’s a single mum with two kids. I just don’t know how she does it all.“

D’Onofrio is proof of the dangers of over-exertion. Two years ago, he was combining movie commitments with Criminal Intent shooting and twice collapsed on the set of the crime drama. He was rushed to hospital for a battery of medical tests, which showed D’Onofrio was suffering exhaustion. In an effort to lighten the load on D’Onofrio, Chris Noth was hired to star in alternate episodes of Criminal Intent. D’Onofrio, 45, says the change in Criminal Intent structure was a blessing, despite the hefty pay cut.

„I just couldn’t do it any more and keep the integrity of the show up,“ D’Onofrio says. He would have left the show if Wolf had not come up with the novel plan to split the starring role. When he finishes on Criminal Intent, there’s every chance D’Onofrio will take an extended break in Australia. For four years in the late 1980s and early ’90s, he lived in Sydney’s Coogee with his then partner, actor Greta Scacchi, and their daughter Layla, 13. D’Onofrio also has a son Elias, 5, the product of his now-dissolved marriage to Carin van der Donk.

„I’m friends with the mums and I love my kids — they spend a lot of time with me,“ he says. „That has been one of the great things about me reducing my workload on Criminal Intent. I’ve been able to spend so much more time with my
kids.“