Peter Coyote Peter Coyote

Following in the footsteps of former senator Fred Thompson and Sam Waterston, Peter Coyote steps into the lead district attorney role when Law & Order: Los Angeles premieres Wednesday. According to the 68-year-old character actor, it did not take much to convince him to join the show. "When [series creator] Dick Wolf called me to do this, he just ran down the cast list," Coyote says. "I said yes; I mean how can you turn this crew down?"

In this video, Coyote talks about working on the well-known franchise and sharing scenes with Terrence Howard.

Law & Order: Los Angeles carries torch to the other coast

Watch the video here:

Law & Order: Los Angeles premieres Wednesday at 10/9c on NBC.