You couldn't pay me enough to be a law enforcement officer. Their job is a tough job. You have to solve people's problems, you have to baby-sit people, you have to always be doing this cat-and-mouse game with the bad guys. My respect for them is immense.

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.