Seth Gabel's Early Roles: SVU, Fringe And More

Sex and the City

"It was one of my first auditions for a real TV show," says Gabel, who'd been attending NYU acting school at the time. "The part was actually [for a] 'hot young sailor.' I was thrilled to be perceived that way... I remember just being excited that I was on that show, during that time. It was at the height of its popularity." But later when it aired, Gabel noticed that the credit had been changed to 'sweet young sailor' instead. "I thought maybe I didn't bring as much heat to the role as they wanted. It was still a lot of fun to do."

As for acting opposite Sarah Jessica Parker, Gabel remembers she kept leaving in the middle of their scene. "I thought 'What's going on?' It turns out she was pregnant, but she wasn't allowed to tell anyone. Or she didn't want to."

Nip/Tuck

"I had a run around that time of playing a bunch of different sociopathic roles. I don't know what that says about me," jokes Gabel, who'd just graduated and moved out to LA at the time. "Having that as my first role in L.A. was very reassuring. It made me realize that I could be a part of projects that were unique." Gabel took to the part, embracing his role on the show. "I loved that I was playing this sexually confused character who wasn't sure if he was gay, wasn't sure if he was straight. He was sleeping with his mom, who ended up being a man — all this crazy stuff."

Looking back, Gabel feels the gig made him realize that he "could always do projects that were not normal and different in some way, but intelligent at the same time."

Law & Order: SVU

The entire time he'd lived in New York, Gabel had auditioned unsuccessfully to be on Law & Order. But it wasn't until he moved to L..A. that he got the call to be on the show. "It really bothered me, because everyone in New York had done a Law & Order," he recalls. "It felt like [I was] one of the only people that hadn't. It was the last straw of validation that I needed to really feel complete in leaving New York, [so] it felt great going back and doing SVU."

The Closer

After the episode aired, Gabel had to face one very tough critic: his grandmother. "[She] wasn't impressed with that one," laughs Gabel. "I was playing a Russian immigrant and I had to work on this Russian accent. My grandmother very simply says, 'It wasn't one of your better roles.' She's very honest with me."

Dirty Sexy Money

Gabel got his first regular role around the time his son was born, which he notes was a huge relief. "Not feeling like I had job security or had firmly established myself in the business, was really worrying." Gabel was one of the first actors cast. "Suddenly Donald Sutherland signs on... Peter Krause... William Baldwin..." he recalls. "That was such a gift, to be able to do that show with all those incredible actors... Every week, I just tried to get a little bit better and learn from the people around me."

Like many fans, Gabel feels the show could have gone on if not for the writers strike, or the subsequent recession. "I think people were not interested in watching a TV show about a bunch of spoiled billionaires. But It's something I'll cherish for the rest of my life."

CSI

"I got to do CSI twice, which made me feel old," says Gabel. "You do it early on and, as a certain number of years pass, you're allowed to do it again." The show was well into its 10th season when Gabel returned, and he remembers the production process being like "a well-oiled machine... I've never seen something run so efficiently before."

United States of Tara

Gabel had just finished binge-watching the first season when he got a call from Craig Wright, who'd been a producer on Dirty Sexy Money, asking him to be a part of the second season. "It was so surreal to be watching [a show] as a fan and then a week later dive into it and actually be a part of the world," says Gabel, who was convinced his character was hiding something. "I kept playing it as if something else was going on with him." But when he got the final script he saw that his character simply got dumped. "I just created an arc that doesn't exist," remembers Gabel. "I felt embarrassed about that, but when I watched it I liked that there was this heightened tension in the air that didn't amount to anything... That happens in life, too."

Fringe

Gabel played not one, but four versions of Fringe agent and fan favorite Lincoln Lee. "Fringe came along as I was making the transition from playing 'boy' roles to playing 'man' roles." And acting opposite different versions of the same character definitely helped the process. "The two of them meeting and having these nature versus nurture conversations, was so enlightening," explains Gabel. "That's why I got into acting... So I could have all these different experiences. [Being on] Fringe was perfect one for where I was at that point in my life. It sounds cheesy to say, but I felt like it taught me how to be a man."

Arrow

Gabel was excited to be playing a comic book super villain, but he didn't have much time to do research when he got the call to do the part. "A lot of it was influenced by what they had initially told me, which was that he was very much like Heath Ledger's Joker in Batman. I tried to tap into whatever realm of energy he had tapped into. Then try to find my own version of that." Something that helped him get into character was figuring out how to hold a gun. "If a character's holding a gun really loosely, and is haphazardly kind of tossing their hand around, that's really scary," shares Gabel. "That became the basis for the character. At any moment something terrible can happen, but he either wants it to, or it's an accident. But it doesn't matter because he doesn't care."

Ironside

Guest-starring on an episode of the short-lived NBC show, Gabel reunited with his old Dirty Sexy Money castmate, Blair Underwood. "Working with people you've worked with before, that's really fun," says Gabel. "You get to play a whole different game with them." What's more, portraying a professional poker player who also had an addiction drugs, felt "par for the course".

Salem

Gabel knew he would eventually find a role that needed a beard, and Salem was it. But it took him three months to cultivate the scruff he wears every day as Cotton Mather. "When we ended Season 1, I shaved," says Gabel. "[It'd] been like a year since I'd seen my face without a beard. I was horrified. If you've ever seen a fluffy dog, and you give them a bath and you see their fur and it's not fluffy — how disturbing that is? That's how I felt I looked."

And for anyone who's wondering, Gabel's grandmother does indeed watch Salem and "she approves".