Sterling Beaumon Goes Dark on Law & Order SVU: Inside the Making of "Delinquent"

On May 5, 2011, NBC Universal hosted a press call with actor Sterling Beaumon and co-executive producer Dan Truly ahead of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Delinquent," airing May 11 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on NBC. Beaumon, best known at the time for his recurring role on Lost, plays a teenage suspect whose story takes several sharp turns over the course of the hour.

Playing a character who controls the room

Beaumon described the appeal of the role immediately: "I'd been told he was definitely going to be a total creep — and that was different than just an average kid with his fun. I've never really played a drunk kid before, which was an interesting twist. Not only is he presumed to be a killer and a rapist, but he's also having a lot of problems with alcoholism." Finding the right register for the intoxication scenes was one of the central challenges: "Trying to find a happy medium between being too drunk and being just right — or being not drunk enough." The character's defining quality, however, was his refusal to be intimidated. "Nobody tells him what to do. Nobody makes him do stuff. He controls what he wants — he does what he wants to do."

What the writers built

Truly confirmed that the episode drew on real psychology around how people who commit sex crimes are formed: "The inspiration was some psychology about how people who commit sex crimes are built psychologically — the things that happened to them that make them do the actions they end up doing." He described Beaumon's character as unusually evolved for a young guest role: "Usually when we have young people on the set, they're the kids of the perp, or tragically they're victims. But his character is as evolved a perpetrator as any of the adult characters that have been on the show — which is sort of unnerving to watch, the kind of predatory confidence that he has." The episode then pivots: "This story turns into other places and he reveals other aspects of this psychology in this sort of effortless performance that is really something to watch."

Going up against Stabler

Several scenes pit Beaumon's character directly against Chris Meloni's Detective Stabler — and Truly said the dynamic brought something unexpected out of both actors: "Stabler is used to playing with this sort of silver-back dominant personality. He doesn't quite know what to do with this kid who is really in his face and accusing him of things. He knows this is a young person, so he shouldn't let his buttons be pushed — but he can't help it because his character is being manipulated by this kid." Beaumon added: "He's not afraid of too much. And he knows that he controls the situation."

The breakdown scene

The emotional centerpiece of the episode comes near the end. "There's a scene where he's just breaking down because he figures out that his whole life has just been kind of messed because of an event that happened early in his childhood," Beaumon said. "He just breaks down and bawls his eyes out. That scene took a lot of focus and a lot of time. Thank God for the amazing director, Holly Dale — she really helped me through and got the best performance out of me." Rita Wilson, who plays his mother in the episode, also made an impression: "She was just so awesome and so sweet and gave some tips — 'Oh, why don't you try like this.' I think it made my performance better."

"Delinquent" aired on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC on May 11, 2011. Sterling Beaumon also noted a new single was in progress at the time of the call, with music described as a long-standing passion alongside his acting career.

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