Kevin Kane about the trauma in the mine and laughing with Amy Schumer

For Kevin Kane, the outcome was unwavering as he set himself the goal of moving to Novel York and pursuing an acting career early on. He will tell you that luck has always been on his side, as the 35-year-old actor from Philadelphia landed a job shortly after arriving in the Large Apple.

Kane was soon thrown into the world of Dick Wolf Entertainment with compact roles Law and order AND Chicago Police This ultimately led to his current recurring role as Detective Terry Bruno Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which aired its season 25 finale on May 16.

However, early on, while studying acting at the William Esper Studio, Kane formed a bond and lifelong friendship with classmate Amy Schumer. Together they would not only hone their skills in drama and comedy, but also hone their skills in writing, producing and everything else it would take to ensure success in Hollywood. The results culminated in an Emmy award Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central, followed by a one-season renewal for Paramount+) and, most recently, a Hulu series Life and Bethwhich recently concluded its 10-episode second season in February.

Hollywood reporter I recently caught up with Kane to talk about the ending of the finale SVU; his unique partnership and friendship with Schumer throughout his career; how one of his traumatic real-life experiences became an episode Life and Beth; and deep philosophical conservation on the Ice-T set.

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What did you think of the season 25 finale? Law & Order: Special Victims Unit“The Duty of Hope”?

This is one of those finals that brings all the teams together to work as one. There is an action sequence and a lot of things come together throughout the season. So it was one of those kind of climactic finales. It was a lot of fun working on this action-packed movie with Benson [Mariska Hargitay plays Captain Olivia “Liv” Benson], where we support her. It was a really nice ride.

It’s captivating how your career progressed during your regular gig SVU looking back at how many times you’ve guest starred Law & Order and SVU. And now here you are, in the regular role of Detective Terry Bruno.

Honestly, pretty soon after getting off the bus, I was on set with Jerry Orbach [one of the longest cast members of Law & Order from 1992 to 2004; Orbach died from cancer shortly after the 2003-2004 season ended] like the first time in front of the TV. So yes, I’ve explored the entire gamut of the Dick Wolf universe.

Tell me about The Collective NY. That’s where you and Amy Schumer first met, right?

I lived in Novel York for a few years and worked for a while. I had a girlfriend when I was 20 who did this Pop stars (WB) show. She was in that group, Eden’s Crush; so she and I moved to LA for a few years and I just wasn’t feeling it all. I say, “I’ll just start over.” So I went to William Esper Studio in Novel York, did a two-year program, and my classmate Amy Schumer was there. And we had some really special, special classes! Bill always told us that. He said, “Stick together, start working together.” And we formed a theater company that we didn’t really call a theater company; we were just going to do something together. We were going to do some theater; some low films and the like.

And Amy kind of got into beer sponsorship. At the time, she was doing stand-up comedy and was starting to get good at it. And some guy who was like the CEO of Genesee Beer hired her for a backyard party. He talked about how kids downtown were drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon and he said, “Why not my beer?” Amy said, “Well, we’ve got the hottest show downtown and you should send us a beer.” So at one of our theater group meetings – and this is classic Amy Schumer – she comes in and says, “Guys, we have to come up with a show! We will deliver 30 packages of 30 on Sunday evening!” That’s how I started my comedy journey with Amy Schumer. We did a comedy fundraiser; we had stand-up comedy and the audience grew. We wanted to put our actors in front of him, so we started making sketches. It was a kind of introduction to working together Inside Amy Schumer.

So you and the entire group will eventually sign a deal with Comedy Central to create it Inside Amy Schumer, airing on the network from 2013 to 2022 (the show won an Emmy in 2015 for outstanding scripted series). You were the producer of the series. Did you write too?

I was in the writers’ room. As a producer, we presented different things. And there was a really good guy there, Daniel Powell, who was the showrunner, along with Jessi Klein. And even though it was a sketch comedy, it was a real education in producing. Because for the sketch there was a day where we were shooting a commercial in the morning and a Japanese horror movie in the afternoon – and you learn everything quickly! Years later I started working with Judd Apatow and he said, “because yes.” The Ben Stiller Show — “You never work so demanding and learn so much as when you do a sketch show.”

Do you enjoy any of the “behind the scenes” parts of the business as much, if not more, than acting?

I started producing from an actor and director point of view because we were doing it on stage. And that’s how you learn everything that comes with it. As Amy says, we’ll fraudulent it until we make it. This is how we learned the producer’s game.

Hulu released the entire second season Life and Beth in February. Episode five, “Claire,” focuses on Matt finding out he has a daughter 16 years later and meeting her for the first time. I think I read somewhere that this is a true story.

This show is made with so much love and is about things that are happening in your life; the kinds of traumas we may feel ashamed or upset about, and how to deal with them. And I think we downplay it. We show: Hey, we are all the same, we all have the same thing. We are asked to be semi-autobiographical. And so Amy came to me for season two and said, “Listen, I think it’s time for us to tell this story.” This is a true story. It’s like I was saying when I was a juvenile actor in Novel York and I would talk to my friends, and especially to upset Amy or other actresses that we were close to, they would ask, “Do you have any kids,” and I’d go – I don’t know, be Maybe. Then you get that call – you don’t joke about it anymore. And while it’s not exactly the same story as this episode, it has many similar circumstances. Amy was the first person I ran to after that call; you know, have a drink and you’ll never believe this story. So we kind of parodied it. But a lot of the actors on the show are our friends, and we’re working with people we’ve worked with for a long time.

Is it hard to transition from comedy to drama as you shot it? Life and Beth AND SVU at the same time?

I feel like Amy and I work so well together because we approach it the same way. In fact, in comedy, the stakes are often higher; you just need to strengthen them. But I think that was also our approach to comedy. The idea was to ground it and make it as real as possible, and when everything was ready, the laughs would be even louder.

Between these two jobs I was doing at the same time, it basically became like a vacation. Because I got my role SVU, and they said, “That’s the script for this week,” and I have no say in it. But in Life and Beth, from the first day I’m in the writers’ room until pre-production, we’re researching and casting. There were days I had to go in a van and shoot a scene with Amy Schumer and Cole Escola, and then I would get in the van and shoot a street scene with Ice-T at night. It was a bit of a strange experience, but they both made sense to each other.

Season finale SVU it’s over and there are no announcements for a third season yet Life and Beth. What’s on the horizon for you?

I have several film projects that are in the final stages before they get the green delicate. And the truth is, I have an vital person who will be assisting with my daughter’s Field Day. I need to get back to these things. Because my wife has been in a play, been on Broadway, and now she’s working on a novel series for Netflix with Jason Bateman. So I just tagged and now I’m in. Now I run the program at home. My daughter is 6 years antique. But there are a few things that I can’t talk about yet, but will happen soon.

One last thing: do you and Ice-T have deep philosophical conversations on set?

Let me tell you something, they’re all philosophical, even if you don’t think so. (Laughter.) He makes it clear to you. I’ve never worked with someone who only 10 out of 10 times had a great time on set. And it makes sense why he did it for so long. He comes to work ready to work. He loves to work and is always in a good mood. Always joking, always telling a story. And he was one of the best parts of the show.

I will say this, he’s been really great with me and gives me advice on how to navigate the program and stuff like that. And he’s always joking, he’s always like, “Kev, just make sure you don’t bleed in the last episode!” You never want to be bleeding in the last episode!” And it came back to bite him, because in the last episode he was the only one bleeding [Ice-T’s character gets accidentally shot in the arm by a pre-teen who is mad that the officer arrested his father on faulty evidence]. Of course, he will return in season 26! (Laughter.)

Law & Order: SVU Season 25 is streaming on Peacock; Life and Beth seasons one and two are streaming on Hulu.