The world first met LuAnn De Lesseps on Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New York City” when she was the composed Countess who always knew the right thing to say. A few seasons, a book and a radio single later, she’s making her acting debut on “Law & Order: SVU,” playing a character not very far from her own celebrity persona. In the show, she plays a monied art collector caught in the middle of a dastardly crime.
“My husband and I have collected some art over the years, my ex and myself,” De Lesseps explains. “And so I feel I’m a patron of the arts, and so it was a perfect role for me.”
Though technically she doesn’t hold the title anymore, De Lesseps is still the Countess in the minds of many. And she’s continuing to grow her fame with another season on “Real Housewives” (though the premiere has been pushed back to spring) and by recording another single, this time with some big talent involved.
“Well, I can’t give away, obviously, who the artist is, but it’s a major artist in the music business,” she says coyly.
So is the Countess a pop star on the rise or our next Meryl Streep?
“I just feel like, you know, it’s my time,” she says. “I’ve been very lucky. I’ve found somebody who adores me in my life again and I just have a second chance, and ‘SVU’ is, you know, a part of that second chance. It’s very exciting.”
De Lesseps says she’s planning to appear on a pilot for the USA Network, and also has her eye on another show for which she’d like to do a cameo.
“I would love to go on ‘30 Rock,’ for example. So you can put the word out there, OK?” she says. “I’m saying it: Tina Fey, call me.”
