Law & Order Character No One Remembers James Ransone Played 2 Years Before The Wire
Following the tragic death of actor James Ransone, most notable for his role as Ziggy Sobotka in The Wire, on December 19, many fans and others paid their respects to the star’s legacy. His other prominent roles included various appearances in TV shows and films, such as Generation Kill, Low Winter Sun, IT: Chapter Two, and many more.
But amidst all of his career highlights, many may have forgotten that the late star also appeared once in the long-running crime/drama, Law & Order. In Season 17, he played a character named Mike Weyland in the episode titled ‘Fame.’
Acting Was Not James Ransone’s Original Plan
From roles like Eddie Kaspbrak to Ziggy Sobotka, to his last role as Max in Black Phone 2, James Ransone has showcased just how versatile and amazing he is in every role he takes on. And thus, people will be surprised to learn that despite his talent, acting was never his first choice.
In a past interview with Interview Magazine, the star opened up about how, through his days spent in theatre and many commercial shoots, he one day found himself in acting school, and later, in roles to earn some money. His passion during this time was music, which led him to believe that the life of a musician was what awaited him. He said:
…I ended up in that time getting an agent. I booked a commercial, worked on a couple of art films, and then I made enough money where I didn’t have to work for Patrick anymore. I really didn’t think I was an actor at that time—I was playing a lot of music. I thought I was going to be a musician. So I was like, “Yeah I’ll take some acting jobs if I can eat and pay my rent. I’ll just play music,” since that’s what I wanted to do and was doing at the time.
And before he knew it, through struggling with addiction problems throughout most of his life, acting became his livelihood. He said:
I woke up at 27 after being on heroin for five years. It was like I sobered up and I realized, “My job is being an actor. This is crazy!”
Along with considering his childhood trauma of being s*xually abused by an employee of his school during his younger days (via Page Six), it seems like acting helped James Ransone to some extent to deal with it and his addiction problems.
How Law & Order Helped James Ransone in His Career
With his appearances in both the original Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU in 2001 and 2006, small guest appearances were a common occurrence for up-and-coming stars at the time.
And since the legacy of the Law & Order franchise was very well known and revered, getting a guest appearance credit in one of the episodes, including his performances, put the star on the map for other productions. And with his antagonistic role in the original series, The Wire found him to be perfect for the role of Ziggy Sobotka.
What helped even more on Law & Order was the exposure to the behind-the-scenes production and running of such a high-profile series, even though that experience may be brief. This lets the producers and executives know whether a star can handle the workload on set or not.
Here’s more information on Law & Order.
| TV Series | Law & Order |
| Seasons | 25 |
| Creators | Dick Wolf, Rick Eid |
| Major Cast | Jerry Orbach, Jesse L. Martin, Dennis Farina, Sam Waterston |
| IMDb Score | 7.8/10 |
| Streaming | Peacock/Hulu |
The Wire is now streaming on HBO Max (US).