Tony goldwyn joins ‘law & order’ as district attorney | members only access

Tony Goldwyn, 63, is stepping into big shoes as Manhattan District Attorney Nicholas Baxter, replacing Sam Waterston’s DA Jack McCoy on NBC’s _Law & Order_. “They’ve created a very

different character, so it’s just fun to bring whatever I can to it,” Goldwyn says. He also stepped behind the camera as director of the movie _Ezra_, in theaters May 31, which stars

A-listers Robert De Niro, Rose Byrne, Whoopi Goldberg and Rainn Wilson. He tells AARP why he decided to direct, how he’s keeping in mental and physical shape and what he’d like his

younger self to know. _This interview has been edited for length and clarity._ How do you like shooting _Law & Order_ in New York City? Oh, it’s fantastic. I love working in New York,

because it’s home, and it’s always such a treat to get to work here. Making films and television shows in New York is a very special, unique kind of experience. The city is always a major

character in whatever you’re doing. And as soon as I walked onto the set of _Law_ _&_ _Order,_ I [recognized] several of the people who were on the crew I worked with in the past

[Goldwyn directed a Season 16 episode in 2006 and acted on _Law_ _&_ _Order:_ _Criminal_ _Intent_ in the mid-2000s] and some [from] the film I just directed. So it was a familial

atmosphere. Goldwyn stars as Manhattan District Attorney Nicholas Baxter on “Law & Order.” Vivian Zink/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images You’ve publicly invited your

_Scandal_ costar Kerry Washington to guest star on _Law & Order_. Do you have any other dream guest stars? Maybe Bob De Niro. He’s in my movie [_Ezra_]. He’s incredible. _Ezra_ features

a star-powered cast, including De Niro, Rose Byrne, Whoopi Goldberg, Vera Farmiga, Rainn Wilson and Bobby Cannavale. How did that all come about? As movies go, it came together quite easily,

especially in independent films. My oldest and dearest friend in the world, who I’ve been friends with for 40 years, Tony Spiridakis, wrote the script. He has an autistic son and wanted to

write a movie inspired by his experience. He wrote this beautiful script about a comedian [whose] 11-year-old son is autistic, and he’s going through a divorce and living with his dad, and

they’re going through a bit of an ordeal in their family. Tony and I decided to do it together, and then the cast came together quite quickly, and suddenly we’re making a movie. It was

really beautiful to do that with my best friend.