Vincent D’Onofrio has been synonymous with various characters over the years with his performance as Wilson Fisk a.k.a Kingpin in Marvel’s Daredevil being popular in recent times. However, before he made his incredible appearance in the Netflix series, he was best known for his role as Detective Robert Goren in Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

D’Onofrio played the role of the eccentric detective for ten seasons and it was his longest role. Starring in the spinoff of the Law & Order franchise by Dick Wolf, the actor mentioned that Wolf was the only one in the crew who understood how unorthodox his acting process was. He said that the crew used to be annoyed at his habit of taking pauses while performing.

Vincent D’Onofrio Drove The Crew Of Law & Order: Criminal Intent Mad With His Acting

Vincent D’Onofrio in Echo | Credits: Marvel Studios

Actor Vincent D’Onofrio has been in the industry for forty years and has worked with filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick, Oliver Stone, and Katheryn Bigelow. His first big role came early in his career when he starred as Private Lawrence in Kubrick’s war film Full Metal Jacket, after which he went on to appear in many prominent roles.

D’Onofrio’s longest role was his tenure as Detective Robert Goren in Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The actor played the intelligent yet troubled detective who was adept at figuring out the psychological profiles of the perpetrators. The series lasted ten seasons, with D’Onofrio sharing the screen with Kathryn Erbe in all of them, though he was briefly replaced by Jeff Goldblum.

Vincent D’Onofrio in Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Credits: NBC

D’Onofrio reportedly had an unorthodox acting style which was not welcomed by the TV crew at the time. The actor mentioned on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast,

I would save certain spots to pause in and not speak and that drove them crazy…I was like, ‘this is not radio you can stop talking’…it’s okay to stop talking. And by the way, you could cut it out if you want.

While the crew was reportedly not happy with his style initially, he slowly turned the character into something of a pop culture staple. Robert Goren was probably his most famous character until Kingpin in Daredevil.

Law & Order Creator Dick Wolf Was The Only One Who Understood Vincent D’Onofrio

Vincent D’Onofrio as Robert Goren in Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Credits: NBC

Vincent D’Onofrio has proven himself to be one of the most talented actors of the generation. His huge stature has given him some meaty roles over the course of forty years, including Detective Robert Goren in Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Though his unorthodox method reportedly drove the crew crazy, one person on set truly understood his process.

Dick Wolf created the flagship show Law & Order and went on to develop several more shows in the franchise including Criminal Intent. He reportedly understood D’Onofrio’s process and permitted him to do some of the whackier stuff. The actor said,

Dick Wolf got it. He got that…people were into that weirdness, that the idea that I had the guts enough to just pause and not speak for a moment…while the room was full of actors and the camera was rolling. He thought that that was exciting…He was the one that gave me permission to do all of that stuff.

D’Onofrio also mentioned that he would be allowed to block scenes in which he was and give some notes on the scripts.