Actor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">Sam Waterston</a> is leaving “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/television">Law &amp; Order</a>” after 30 years and <a href="https://www.today.com/popculture/tv/sam-waterston-jack-mccoy-final-law-and-order-episode-rcna139813">more than</a> 400 episodes depicting District Attorney Jack McCoy.
The 83-year-old star told “<a href="https://www.today.com/video/sam-waterston-talks-leaving-law-order-thanks-fans-for-support-204612165767">Today</a>” that he’s not broken up about laying the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">character</a> to rest, saying he knew this day would come.
“I knew I was going to leave when I came back, and it was just a matter of when,” Waterston told the outlet, referring his full-time 2022 return to the series after appearing sporadically in prior years. “This was a beautiful way to go, I have to say,” he continued.
“When they say goodbye to me, the last shot that I did was on the set of the courtroom, and [series creator] Dick Wolf showed up, and everybody gave speeches, and I quoted from Abraham Lincoln going to D.C. at the beginning of the Civil War. And he had been there for 25 years. If 25 years doesn&#8217;t matter, nothing matters.”
Waterston originally played Jack McCoy on “Law &amp; Order” from 1994 to 2010, before returning in 2022. He received three Emmy Award nominations in 1997, 1999 and 2000 plus a Golden Globe nomination in 1995.
Showrunners announced that as Waterston leaves, “Scandal” actor Tony Goldwyn will join the cast. Waterston said he’s excited about the update. 
“I think he&#8217;s going to be great. You know, my reputation is in terrible danger, because I think he&#8217;s just going to be wonderful and I&#8217;ll be watching. But I think&#8230; it&#8217;s going to be big trouble. It&#8217;ll be what the DA is: demanding,” Waterston said. “A lot of fun to watch.”
The “Law &amp; Order” mainstay said he’s actually looking forward to having more free time. But at the same time, he told &#8220;Today&#8221; there’s “not a chance” he’s fully retiring from acting. He further said he’s “not worrying about it” and that his wife and manager will find his next role.
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“I can&#8217;t tell you how freeing it is,” Waterston said. “It happened the minute I was walking off the set of the courtroom on that last day. Suddenly, there was space in my head that I didn&#8217;t even know there was that had been occupied by the job forever.”
“Even during hiatus, even on breaks&#8230; It&#8217;s a wonderful thing to look at the world through somebody else&#8217;s eyes, and that&#8217;s what an actor sort of gets to do,” he continued. “But it&#8217;s also restricting. Now it&#8217;s my own eyes. I like it.”
Waterston joked that he was “drunk on just the freedom” and said his bucket list is “a million miles long.”

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Sam Waterston Reflects On Leaving ‘Law & Order’ After 30 Years

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Sam Waterston Reflects On Leaving ‘Law & Order’ After 30 Years