The Real Reason Why Christine Lahti Left SVU

Summary

• Christine Lahti is an award-winning actor, writer and director.
• She played a 'love her or hate her' ADA in SVU.
• She now plays an equally complex character in a hit Paramount+ show.

Christine Lahti had a compelling but tragic arc as Sonya Paxton on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. As a recurring character who was outspoken, not afraid to butt heads with those she disagreed with on both sides of the law, and was part of some iconic scenes, it seems odd that her time on the show was so short.

Between 2009 and 2011, Lahti appeared in just seven episodes, with her character forced off-screen for a period of time while she was in rehab recovering from alcoholism.

Why was Sonya Paxton killed off?

Sonya Paxton was portrayed as a no-nonsense, uncompassionate ADA who unfortunately had a drinking problem. After appearing in court drunk, she was placed under a court order to overcome her addiction before returning to work.

Having restored her reputation and proven that she was still a brilliant prosecutor, she became involved in an old cold case, got attacked by a serial killer, and was found dying by Olivia Benson and Fin Tutuola.

Her death became a celebration for the half of SVU fandom that actively despised her, but saddened another half that considered her a complex character and enjoyed her cutthroat dynamic with Elliot Stabler. To these fans, her demise seemed to come out of nowhere, and it made them wonder if there was a behind-the-scenes reason for this write-off. Well, according to Christine Lahti, there definitely wasn't.

Here is what she had to say about her time on SVU in a recent interview with the AV Club:

“Mariska [Hargitay] was extraordinary. The whole cast was incredibly welcoming and open and generous.”

It seems that after the humiliation and subsequent comeback, Sonya Paxton's character arc was simply complete. So if it was time for her to go, why not make it dramatic?

What Else Has Christine Lahti Been in?

A star of film, television and theater, it's an understatement to describe Christine Lahti's career as varied.

Beginning with commercials in the early 70s, her first TV role was as Maggie Kavanaugh in the US sitcom The Harvey Korman Show in 1978.

A year later, she broke into the big screen, starring opposite Al Pacino in ...And Justice For All.

1984's Swing Shift, starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russel, was the film that really put her on the map, and she received another nomination for her role in Running on Empty (1988).

In 1995, she made her directorial debut with Lieberman in Love, a short film in which she also starred as Shaleen.

On the small screen, SVU isn't the only hit show she's starred in. Between 1995 and 1999, she starred as Dr. Kathryn Austin in the medical drama Chicago Hope, for which she was nominated for eight awards, winning three.

She's also had roles on Frasier, Grace and Frankie, The Blacklist and The Good Wife. In 2017, she returned to the stage after a seven-year hiatus in a production of F***ing A. Since then, she's played feminist activist Gloria Steinem in Gloria: A Life and appeared as herself in The Smile of Her, which she also wrote.

In her most recent project, the supernatural drama Evil, she plays another complex character, Sheryl Luria. Sheryl is the mother of the show's protagonist, Dr. Kristen Bouchard (played by Katja Herbers).

After entering into a relationship with her daughter's professional rival – who is obsessed with the occult – Sheryl goes down a very dark path that tears a huge hole in her relationship with Kristen.

What is Christine Lahti Doing Now?

Lahti received high praise for her nuanced role in Evil, with both fans and critics noting her amazing acting range. Unfortunately, Evil was canceled by Paramount+ after 4 seasons. In her now deleted tweet from February, Katja Herbers asked Netflix to continue the series:

'We’re all super sad @paramountplus has decided season 4 is our last. @netflix u up? Care to snatch up the goods??' (via TV Line)

We still haven't heard anything from Netflix, but considering the show is available on their platform, this turn of events isn't completely out of the realm of possibility.

Meanwhile, Lahti, now 74, celebrated her 40th wedding anniversary last year to fellow director Thomas Schlamme, with whom she has three children.

Source: AV Club, TV Line.