Five years later, Lori Loughlin has gone from pleading guilty in real life to busting perps on screen.
Following her and husband Mossimo Giannulli‘s 2019 indictment in the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions bribery scandal, the Emmy nominee explained that her role as Lt. Bishop on the Prime Video procedural series On Call required her to go on police ride-alongs for research.
“It was really exciting and gave me a whole new appreciation for law enforcement,” she told Entertainment Tonight of the Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television series.
Premiering Jan. 9 on the streamer, On Call stars Troian Bellisario and Brandon Larracuente as a veteran officer and rookie duo who patrol the streets of Long Beach, California, with Loughlin as their blunt lieutenant.
Loughlin said she “jumped at the chance” to do the show from executive producer Dick Wolf and creators Elliot Wolf and Tim Walsh. “I was so excited,” she raved.
Brandon Larracuente and Troian Bellisario in On Call
“I didn’t know I had it in me to be that badass,” she said of playing Lt. Bishop, adding: “I was game for anything. When I first showed up, they said, ‘Your highlights are gonna go.’ And I was like, ‘Fine.’”
The show marks Loughlin’s first major TV role since serving two months in prison in late 2020 after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud for paying $500,000 to get her daughters into USC on false pretenses.
Louglin previously poked fun at her arrest on Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s final season this year, in an episode that painted the actress as a cheater at golf who has to pull some strings to get into Larry David’s country club.