Elisabeth Röhm on Twisty New Lifetime Movie & ‘Iconic’ ‘Law & Order’ Exit

Elizabeth Röhm saw her acting career take off thanks to turns as Detective Kate Lockley on Angel and Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn on Law & Order. However, in recent years the star found a passion for roles behind the scenes. She sat in the director’s chair for the first time for Girl in the Basement in 2021. That helped lead to a career pivot with similar credits for other projects including Girl in Room 13, the final film starring the late Anne Heche. She also executive produced Lifetime’s Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story  which landed in Netflix’s Top 10 movies. 

She founded Röhm Feifer Entertainment alongside her producing partner Kara Feifer in 2023.  Röhm has been a big proponent of Lifetime’s Broader Focus initiative. An overall effort to increase the number of women and diverse individuals in key production and influential content-making roles. Their latest movie for the network is Don’t Trust the Girls Upstairs featuring Grammy-nominated and BET Award-winning artist Remy Ma. The Girl in the Closet star plays Ashley Preston, a woman forced to confront her past after finding out about the sudden death of her estranged sister. 

The psychological drama takes a dark turn when Ashley and her husband Elliot (Garfield Wilson) take in their orphaned teenage niece Serena (Aliyah Marc). The household is turned upside down after a series of disturbing incidents. The couple’s daughter Luna (Sasha Rojen) troubled past starts to bubble up to the surface, leaving Ashley to uncover the truth behind the threat inside her home that turns deadly.  

Here Röhm teases the film’s twists and turns. She also talks to us about her journey in the industry and if we’ve seen the last of her within the world of Law & Order. 

Lifetime

How would you describe your partnership with Lifetime over the years?

Elisabeth Röhm: I know there are a lot of networks that really try to have exclusivity and film programs that give people opportunities to step forward. Lifetime really does that. The Broader Focus program with [EVP] Tanya Lopez and the whole team at Lifetime gave me that first opportunity in this chapter. They set me up for success and lighting this fire inside of me. It really was a discovery of an interest I didn’t anticipate. I have always been curious about directing, but I didn’t expect to make an entire career change until they gave me that opportunity. I was really lucky to direct Girl in the Basement with Judd Nelson, Stefanie Scott, Emma Myers, who has exploded and is doing so great. It really changed my trajectory. I have acted a little bit since then, but I have mostly pivoted to a directing career. They’ve really given me that opportunity. 

You’ve been on many sets before and worked with some of the best. What have you taken from those experiences as you made this career shift? 

There are a lot of producers. Kara and I were very influenced with our first sale, which was a TV series to A&E Global Media. They really have been our family. We love that whole entire company. That was in the scripted space. It was a true-crime based on the real-life story of Josephine Wentzel. Her daughter had been murdered, and she was a retired detective who came out of retirement to track down her daughter’s killer, and she did. It was a really inspiring story. We ended up selling that show to Fox. 

At that moment, we decided to make the company have a brand focus. We are true-crime, true stories, oftentimes ripped from the headlines. Sure, I was inspired by people I admire where you really understand what their brand is and what you’re going to be getting from them. You know if you’re going to watch a Dick Wolf show it’s going to be an incredible crime show. For us, we love biographies and autobiographies. We have a lot of true stories. We’re doing the Farrah Fawcett biopic. We have a movie that Matthew Weiner is attached to direct about the creators of Curious George. We love biopics, but we also love true-crime movies and shows, especially for A&E Global Media and Lifetime. 

What makes this movie stand out compared to others in your eyes? 

I think cinematically David Weaver, the director, did a great job. He shot it with an anamorphic lens. It’s gorgeous. It really looks like a $30 million movie. He did a great job. Remy Ma is iconic. She is an incredible Grammy-nominated singer. She is just a force. Then Kara ran a really great set. They made a great movie. The young actresses in it, the girls upstairs, they are new talent people are really going to be excited about. Garfield also did a great job. We love a twisty thriller and book adaptation. Liv Constantine wrote a great book called “My Sister’s Daughter,” that’s what the film was inspired by. So it all starts with good IP, a great script, I’m just proud of the whole team. 

How was it for you to see Remy Ma anchor Don’t Trust the Girls Upstairs? 

I think it’s always extremely exciting to have an artist in another field step in to try something else. I know she has acted before. Kara, my brilliant producing partner, was really the one boots on the ground for this one. David Weaver directed it. Remy just lit it up. The girls who played the girls upstairs you shouldn’t trust are amazing. Garfield, who played Remy’s husband, was also great. We love a good thriller and twists and turns and unexpected things. I can’t entirely give it away. I’ll just say you’re not going to believe what happens next because it’s kind of shocking. The idea of the bad seed is a part of this. We’ve done others like The Wife Stalker along the same lines. 

You really do have to watch toward the end for the big twist and reveal. Then you look back and see things you may have missed or not thought much about become clues to what happens. 

Yes. I think Don’t Trust the Girls Upstairs will not disappoint. It is basically a very dark, twisty, turny project. Remy Ma is so gorgeous and dynamic in this role. I think people are going to be really excited about what she does as an actress.

How important is to have that diversity when it comes to what you do with your storytelling? 

We’ve always been committed to a diverse cast. We love that Lifetime also shares the same values that we have as well. Whether it comes to the diversity in cast or the call to action after the film, they  are responsible filmmakers and storytellers. I really respect and admire the network with how they focus so much on these difficult stories, but making sure there is a hotline or documentary component that talks about the severity of these types of crimes. I’m very moved by that. 

Season 25 Celebration — Pictured: (l-r) Linus Roache, Elisabeth Röhm, Richard Brooks, Odelya Halevi, Jeremy Sisto, Benjamin Bratt, Milena Govich, Sam Waterston, S. Epatha Merkerson in New York, NY on January 6, 2026 — (Photo by: Noam Galai/NBC)

Earlier this year you attended a celebration to mark 25 seasons of Law & Order. What was that like and how is it to be part of that legacy? 

Law & Order and Dick Wolf will always hold a special place in my heart. Dick Wolf has given me some great opportunities as an actor, but also as a director. Having directed Chicago Med this year and Law & Order in the past, I have such a sense of pride being part of this legacy. Seeing incredible actors like Mariska Hargitay take the stage on Broadway and all she has accomplished. Just to be part of that acting troupe and television history and see all these familiar faces, whether it’s the camera operators, directors, sound, scripting. There is this legacy you are a part of. That party, we tore it up. It was a huge event at Casa Cipriani. It was so memorable. Dick Wolf gave such a powerful speech. It just feels like he is getting started and continues to make good things. 

When you returned to direct the Law & Order episode in 2022, it must have felt like that graduate returning to campus for a visit. How do you look back on that experience? 

Directing the show was one of those pinch-me moments where you almost have imposter syndrome. I had already at this point directed four films and really felt grounded as a director. Yet coming back to my alma mater like you said, I had to remind myself I’m an actual grown-up, and I’m not 27 years old starring on this show trying to prove myself. Standing at the foot of the courtroom stairs outside in the Financial District down there, I just had to do a 180 turn around and look at my environment. I had so much gratitude to share in this moment and to have Sam Waterston get to be part of the episode. It just really was a meaningful time. I loved the show before I got on it. I loved it when I was on it, and I’ve loved it since. So, it was great to come back. 

Is there any talk about you doing future work with them? 

I would love to. I absolutely would. I love Law & Order specifically, but the whole Dick Wolf world and all the franchises, I would love to direct more for Wolf Entertainment. Also,  NBC had a program for female filmmakers that really helped me navigate the waters of the network. Another network that puts their money where their mouth is. 

Given all your experience behind the scenes in recent years, has that made you look at decisions made with characters or creative differently? Do you look at your exits from Angel or Law & Order from a different lens? 

I think the [2005] departure from Law & Order was totally iconic [when her character uttered a memorable line after getting fired]. That’s exactly what an actor wants. It has been many years and still people say, “Is this because I’m a lesbian?” They want to know what happened in that scene. That’s what Dick Wolfe promised. He said, “Do you want a flashy departure or a typical departure?” I was thinking, “Flashy of course compared to the alternative?” I think Jerry Orbach came out with a box and said see you later. I was like, “Okay, I’ll get a splashy exit. This will be great.” I think that was a great way to give her a send-off. It has definitely become an iconic moment. The same thing with Kate Lockley. I think her departure was unforgettable. I love all those actors too and am still in touch with a lot of them. 

Season 25 Celebration — Pictured: Elisabeth Röhm at Casa Cipriani in New York, NY on January 6, 2026 — (Photo by: Scott Gries/NBC)

Especially, in the world of Angel, people are such dedicated fans forever. You see it at conventions. Once you have that cred you’re like forever part of this Buffy universe. 

Seriously! I’m on vacation and met this woman who said, “I can’t believe I’m meeting Kate Lockley.” I thought, “Oh my God, I’m 53 years old, and it’s still memorable and part of TV history and people are still watching these shows.” That’s why it was disappointing that Buffy didn’t get a total reboot because I think for us who love that universe, fans and actors included. We would have loved to have seen that all come back to life. 

I can’t imagine the disappointment for everyone involved to work on something only to get it pulled. 

Yeah, but I will say Kara and I have a vampire teenage show we’re developing. Fingers crossed, we’ll get back into some sort of vampire universe. 

What are your favorite memories working on Lifetime movie sets? 

Girl in the Basement really was a powerful moment because I had followed the Elisabeth Fritzl case and really never heard of anything worse than the Elisabeth Fritzl case. To do it inspired by a movie based on that felt like a tremendous responsibility. I just felt privileged to tell that story and have actors that were willing to go on that journey with me in an authentic way. Then I did Anne Heche’s last movie, which was also emotional. That was my third movie. The second movie I got to direct, my friend Justina Machado was amazing in. The fourth one was really a long time in development. It was about Larry Ray, the father who lived in one of the dorms of Sarah Lawrence College. They had done a Hulu doc about that crime. I ended up doing a podcast about it. 

We ended up making the movie Lifetime with Billy Zane, who was my number one choice. Talk about tearing it up, he tore it up. The network really gave me creative freedom and supported something that was for me deeply personal. I went to Sarah Lawrence, my mother went to Sarah Lawrence, and I was formally on the board for Sarah Lawrence. I just thought, “How did this happen at this school I loved so much.” The network I felt was really behind me as a filmmaker. Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story did really, really well, even streamed with Top 10 on Netflix after it was sold there. Alyssa Pladl’s story was also hard. I love telling difficult stories because I feel it’s important and a call to action, as well as having a network behind you that is really unflinching and responsible and really supports the filmmaker 

Don’t Trust the Girls Upstairs premiere, June 20, 8/7c, Lifetime