Comedienne Kathy Griffin is trying on a dramatic role for size in an upcoming episode of Law & Order: Special Victim’s Unit. Here is our first look at Kathy in one of her scenes with SVU hottie Christopher Meloni and some deets about this serious new role:

Kathy Griffin is used to making people laugh, but her upcoming guest role on NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU” was no laughing matter. The comedian plays a gay activist who works with Detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) after a woman from a lesbian community is found dead. The episode airs March 3 at 10 p.m.. “With [the cast and the crew] watching you, and the pressure is on, when you mess up a line, you don’t want to do it again,” Griffin told The News. “My mind is programmed to go for the joke. My whole life is looking for the joke, but this was no joke. I didn’t want to disappoint them.” Griffin, who stars in her own Bravo reality series, “My Life on the D-List,” scored the plum guest role after “L&O” executive producer Neal Baer attended last September’s Creative Arts Emmys (or “Schmemmys,” as Griffin calls them), which Griffin hosted. Without even meeting the funny lady in person, Baer vowed to a Griffin pal that he’d write her a part that would get her an Emmy nomination. “I do think it’s a little bit A-list that I’m in this category where people just write parts for me and I don’t even have to audition,” said Griffin, who is in town for her three-night concert, which kicks off tonight at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. When Griffin received Baer’s script, she was relieved to see that she would be playing Babs Duffy, a “white, lesbian Al Sharpton,” rather than a goofy version of herself. “Playing myself gets kind of boring,” said Griffin. “There’s enough of myself already out there. I’m sick of myself … By the third day, I worked up the courage to ask Mariska if she could run lines with me. She said, ‘I want to be there for you,’” Griffin said. “At first, I thought she was kidding … she and Chris were so helpful.” In the episode, Griffin’s and Hargitay’s characters share a kiss – Griffin’s first same-sex smooch. “I was so nervous about getting my character right that the last thing I gave a s- about was kissing a girl,” said Griffin. “When it came to the actual kiss, I kind of don’t remember it. I’d love to sit here and say her lips are soft, but you’d have to ask Babs.”

Wow … who knew that Kathy Griffin had this in her? I’m SO curious to see how she does with this role … I’ll bet she nails it. David is a big fan of all the Law & Orders so I’m sure this episode will be on our DVR for me to check out. While I’m more a fan of the CSI: shows, I’ll deffo be checkin’ out this ep of L&O to see if Kathy‘s got what it takes to be a serious actress. What do y’all think … can she handle it?

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