Christopher Peter Meloni (born April 2, 1961) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit until 2013, and later reprising the role (as a series regular) on the 2021 spinoff series, Law & Order: Organized Crime. Meloni was nominated for the 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Elliot Stabler. He played criminal Jimmy Liery in eight episodes of NYPD Blue during 1996-1997. He also played inmate Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz. In June 2012, he returned to HBO as the vampire Roman on the main cast of True Blood for the series' fifth season. Meloni also starred in and executive-produced the Syfy series Happy! from 2017 to 2019. He then appeared on the third season of The Handmaid's Tale as Commander Winslow in 2019. He has appeared in a number of films to include Wet Hot American Summer, 12 Monkeys, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, Runaway Bride, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Man of Steel, and 42.