Jamie Grey Hyder Previews New Law & Order: SVU

As regular viewers of Law & Order: SVU have seen, there’s some new blood in the squad room. Actress Jamie Grey Hyder (True Blood) plays Officer Katriona “Kat” Azar Tamin.

Jamie Grey Hyder Previews New SVU

Kat may be relatively new, but she’s smart enough to see that she can learn lots from veteran officer — now captain — Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). “She’s going to learn from her how to take her tenacity and her drove and really point it in a very productive direction,” Hyder tells TV Insider.

“Right now, she has a hard time keeping things under control when it comes to her emotions, much like, I believe, Olivia did when she first started out. I think Kat’s similar to that, where she’s going to have to learn how to temper her emotions a little bit in order to make sure she’s acting in a professional manner.”

Olivia’s not the only one who can help Kat get more acclimated. Fin (Ice-T) has also proven to be helpful to the rookie. “[Kat] grew up around people who are probably more like Fin than any of the other characters on the show,” Hyder muses. “He gets her a little bit. He understands her attitude and her drive, where that comes from, so he’s really good at speaking her language and getting her to understand how to translate into this new world she’s in.”

Hyder To Shine

A week from tonight, Hyder gets to shine in an episode that takes place in the boxing world titled Redemption in Her Corner. “I actually train a few times a week at a boxing gym with a trainer and I actually got to use those skills in the episode, and that was really, really exciting,” the actress shared.

“[In that episode], my personal life in the boxing ring brings me into a case that’s going on there, so my personal life and professional life really merge.” Law & Order: SVU airs Thursday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.