Vincent D’Onofrio Leaving Criminal Intent

Law and Order: Criminal Intent is planning dramatic cast changes for next season, with four regulars leaving the show. Vincent D’Onofrio is expected to exit sometime during the series’ upcoming ninth season, handing over his badge to Jeff Goldblum as the top detective on the major case squad. Kathryn Erbe, who, like D’Onofrio, has been with the show since its beginning and plays his long-suffering partner Alex Eames, also will be phased out, as will Eric Bogosian, who plays the force’s captain, Danny Ross. Julianne Nicholson, who played Goldblum’s partner but has just had a baby, her second, also is leaving. She’s being replaced by British actress Saffron Burrows.

Details about D’Onofrio, Erbe and Bogosian’s exit are still unclear as the actors’ deals are being worked out. The network only recently renewed the series for a ninth season, slated to premiere in late spring with a two-parter. Creator and executive producer Dick Wolf has long said that it is the stories, and not the actors, that form the core attraction of his Law and Order franchise.

D’Onofrio has long been identified with Criminal Intent and has helped set its tone as Detective Robert Goren. His trademark gesture, the in-your-face tilt of his head when he interrogates criminals, is a highlight of each episode, as is his encyclopedic knowledge of the arcane that often helps in fingering the suspect.

After originating on NBC, Criminal Intent moved USA, which has put together a cluster of dramas that are lighter in tone and subject matter and have more quirkily upbeat characters, as in Monk, Psych and Burn Notice. Goldblum, who brings an easy eccentricity to most of his work, is more in the tradition of Tony Shalhoub’s Monk than D’Onofrio’s brooding and tortured Goren.

While D’Onofrio is departing as a regular, it is possible for him to reprise his character in guest stints.