I didn't get into acting to be a public service announcer or an advocate and yet, by virtue of this show and how we handle the subject matter that we've been given, that's kind of how it's evolved in certain ways.

He has also worked as a bouncer bartender and personal trainer. Charles R. Meloni worked his way up the acting ladder with commercials short-lived TV series and bit parts in a number of films.

He is best known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and as inmate Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz. Christopher Peter Meloni (born April 2 1961) is an American actor.