There are very few notches missing on legendary screen actor Jeremy Irons' belt. Yet the Oscar, Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG and Tony-winning actor has yet to make his first appearance on episodic network television in America. That will change in early 2011 when the always-proper British star of film and stage tackles the small screen with a guest starring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

The episode featuring Jeremy Irons - titled Mask - will be filmed later this month.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit executive producers Ted Kotcheff, Neal Baer and Peter Jankowski are all admittedly "elated" to welcome the classically trained actor to the long-running NBC drama. Baer tells The New York Daily News:

"We're elated to work with an actor of Jeremy's caliber. He brings depth, intelligence and charisma to all his varied roles and we couldn't be luckier to have him guest star on SVU."

Jeremy Irons however, isn't the only prominent film and stage star on tap for a January guest appearance on the show. Fellow Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis will play an attorney representing a man convicted of murder. Irons, on the other hand, has secured a much juicier role, that of Dr. Cap Jackson, a sex therapist who runs a sex addition rehab clinic.

While American episodic television is an altogether new medium for Irons, it's old hat for the actor in Great Britain. Irons, in fact, netted his first Golden Globe nod for his small screen debut in the television series Brideshead. Four years ago, Irons co-starred with Helen Mirren in the epic made for television miniseries Elizabeth 1, a little project that brought with it yet another Emmy and Golden Globe for Irons.

Cast of Law & Order: SVU

From avoiding American television like the plague to welcoming it with open arms, Jeremy Irons will transition from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit to a lead role in the new Showtime series called The Borgias, which will debut on the premium cable network

next spring.

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Beginning in January on NBC, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which stars Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni, moves to 10 p.m. ET (from its current 9 p.m. ET) on Wednesdays.

Source: New York Daily News