Diane Neal (born November 17, 1976) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying New York Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak in the television series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' from 2003 to 2012. She is also known for portraying Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) Special Agent Abigail Borin in the ''NCIS'' franchise.

Early life

Neal was born in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

, the youngest of three daughters to Colleen Neal, a math teacher or professor of Jewish descent, and Christopher "Chris" Neal, a federal attorney of Irish descent. She was raised in Littleton, Arapahoe County,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, with her older sisters Leigh and Erin. and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. After Neal graduated from Littleton's Heritage High School, she moved to Hawaii to attend college, but later left school to become a model and travel. Neal started modeling for Shiseido and

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skin-care ads. After deciding to resume her education, Neal began attending

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

's Extension School in 2009, and graduated with an

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

in May 2018.

Career

Acting

Neal first appeared on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' as a guest star, playing a rapist in the Season 3 episode " Ridicule". Neal first appeared as Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak in the show's fifth season, replacing Stephanie March, who played Alexandra Cabot. Neal portrayed Novak through the end of Season 9, when the character exited the series after being censured by the New York State Bar. In 2011, Neal reprised her role as Novak in the Season 12 episode "Reparations", when Novak returned to SVU as their temporary ADA. After that appearance, she became a recurring character in Season 13. She was last seen in the episode "Valentine's Day". Neal said of her return to the series in Season 13 to ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'', "It's back on track to what the original ''SVU'' was intended to be, which is about sex crimes and crimes against children, it's got more of a nitty-gritty feel." She says that March's and her return to the

fictional universe A fictional universe, also known as an imagined universe or a constructed universe, is the internally consistent fictional setting used in a narrative or a work of art. This concept is most commonly associated with works of fantasy and scie ...

of the series provided a familiarity for viewers following original cast member Chris Meloni's departure. "I think they should put us in the court room together!" she says about March. In 2021, Neal starred as Peggy Sue Thomas in the Lifetime movie ''Circle of Deception''.

Congressional run

On February 6, 2018, Neal announced that she would run for the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

New York's 19th congressional district New York's 19th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in New York (state), New York’s Catskill Mountains, Catskills, Hudson Valley, greater Capital District (New York), Capit ...

as an independent. She described her political views as "a little

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

, I'm a lot liberal, mostly progressive, but I have this amazing ability to be able to take really complicated policy and break it down into edible sound bites, which is something most progressive liberals cannot do." Neal finished with 1% of the vote.

Podcast

On January 14, 2022, Neal announced that she would be the host of a new comedy and talk podcast named "Hear Say with Diane Neal". The podcast is intended to "amuse and enlighten".

Personal life

On July 9, 2005, Neal married Irish former

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

and engineer Marcus O. Fitzgerald in a ceremony in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. Neal and Fitzgerald divorced in 2014. Neal was later involved in a relationship with magician JB Benn. It ended acrimoniously, and in November 2019, Neal became the plaintiff in a lawsuit in which she made allegations against Benn including fraud and

identity theft Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...

, and she claimed Benn had subjected her to physical and sexual abuse. In 2013, Neal was involved in a car accident which fractured her spine. In announcing her 2018 Congressional candidacy, Neal indicated that the long recuperation from her injuries had caused her to place her acting career on hold. In 2023, after experiencing anti-Semitism in the US, Neal moved to Israel and became an Israeli citizen.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, Diane 1976 births Living people 21st-century American actresses American female models American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from Colorado Actresses from Alexandria, Virginia Jewish American actresses American people of Irish descent People from Littleton, Colorado American actor-politicians New York (state) independents Harvard Extension School alumni Candidates in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections