Whatever Happened To Jamie Ross From Law & Order?

When longtime "Law & Order" fans talk about all the actors who've stepped into and out of the role of Assistant District Attorney on the show, names like Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessey) and Abby Carmicheal (Angie Harmon) are certain to be broached. But truly savvy fans of the ground-breaking procedural would likely want to include the attorney that bridged the gap between them, ADA Jamie Ross.

Portrayed by "License to Kill" Bond girl Carey Lowell, Ross made her first "Law & Order" appearance during the series' seventh season. She'd spend the entirety of that season (and the eighth) working in tandem with Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) to seek justice in the crime-addled metropolis of New York City. Unfortunately, her hard-edged, pie-in-the-sky ideology made her a tricky fit for a DA's office run by the sometimes slippery McCoy, with Ross' full-time gig in the office (and thus the series) ending after Season 8. 

A quick look at Lowell's IMDb page confirms she's kept a relatively low profile since her "L&O" tenure ended. Still, it should certainly be noted here that Carey Lowell didn't entirely walk away from her role as Jamie Ross at the end of Season 8, returning for guest spots during Seasons 10 and 11. She also played a judge on "Law & Order: Trial By Jury," before booking another guest spot as Jamie Ross on "Homicide: Life on the Streets." And yes, she even made a buzz-worthy cameo during the Season 21 revival of "Law & Order." 

If you've seen any of the "Law & Order" episodes that featured guest spots from Carey Lowell, you know they each rank among their respective season's highlights. But even apart from her various "L&O" cameos, the actor has continued to book film and television gigs over the years. Lowell really has been choosy about what roles she's taken on, however, often letting years pass between screen appearances.

Despite this fact, in 2003 the actor signed on to play the lead role in the "based on true events" Lifetime movie "More Than Meets the Eye: The Joan Brock Story." The film found Lowell portraying a brave woman whose life changes dramatically when she rapidly loses her sight, and features arguably some of her best small screen work to date. In 2005, the actor turned up in a pair of episodes for the lauded HBO miniseries "Empire Falls," playing the middle-aged version of Joanne Woodward's elderly character Francine Whiting.

More recently, Lowell booked one-off gigs on both "Blue Bloods" and the recently-axed legal drama "Bull." But per a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lowell is also changing things up on the career front, devoting more time to her burgeoning ceramics career than acting. Lowell is said to be running the business from her home in Upstate New York, and told the publication it's refreshing to be doing something creative, " ... that I am in control of, that I can do for myself, that I'm not waiting for somebody else to hire me." And Lowell's fans no doubt wish her all the best in her new endeavor.