Sharon Stone — who is currently filming a Law & Order: SVU guest spot in which she plays a retired cop who becomes an assistant district attorney — connected with law enforcement in a very real way last night, attending the annual gala for the NYPD Police Foundation. The actress, as a matter of fact, was escorted by a strapping member of New York’s finest, Detective Bill McDonald, who, outfitted in his full NYPD getup, guided Stone solemnly through the crowd. “I’m trying to do a good job, and make you guys proud,†she told McDonald, referring to her SVU role. She then smiled at her escort, who looked like he needed a drink. Did Stone think she would make a good cop in real life? “No … I have bad vision and I’m too old.†When we asked McDonald how he had been selected for this special duty, he began blushing beneath his policeman’s cap. “I was just lucky,†he said stoically. “Probably because he’s Irish and tomorrow is our special day,†offered Stone.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was a bit more straightforward when we tried to get to the bottom of Detective McDonald’s assignment. “How did he get picked? I think [the officers] arm-wrestled for it, or fought it out downstairs. Some things you don’t want to know,†he said. He also said he probably won’t be seeing Stone’s SVU spot. “I don’t watch police shows. It’s almost like, you’re too close to it, and it’s not precise,†he explained. “I’m sorry if that’s disappointing. Is that common? That people don’t watch shows that are about their own jobs? Like, doctors probably don’t want to watch Scrubs or stuff like that.†We assured him that it was entirely understandable, and he then continued on his riff: “Everybody has the CSI mentality now … people expect forensics in court, and when it doesn’t happen, it can undermine a case. Also, the timing of it — everybody expects a court case to run 22 minutes, or however long these shows are running these days, and that’s definitely not realistic.†If only the sheer number of Law & Order spinoffs could make up for that!