Shameless Star Justin Chatwin Had a Pivotal Law & Order Role in a Heartbreaking Episode
Attorney Nolan Price found himself at odds with his brother, played by Chatwin, as the siblings were forced to make a painful decision.
An emotional episode of Law & Order introduced viewers to a close family member of a main character — and brought in a high-profile guest star for the part.
Justin Chatwin — who rose to fame on the hit comedy-drama series Shameless — took on the role of Thomas Price, the brother of Executive Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price, in “The Hardest Thing" episode, which premiered on January 30, 2025.
The siblings disagreed about how to handle their father’s failing health. Nolan wasn’t ready to say goodbye to his dad, while Thomas urged his brother to consider what was best for their father as the family’s patriarch lay dying in a hospital bed.
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Thomas’ introduction gave fans a unique glimpse into Nolan’s personal life, and the episode also hinted that there could be more to come about the prosecutor’s family's past.
Read on to find out more about Season 24, Episode 11 and Chatwin's role in this episode and on Shameless.
The personable and level-headed Thomas Price was a stark contrast from Chatwin's most famous TV role.
Who did Justin Chatwin play on Shameless?
The Canadian native had a long-running role as the perpetually dishonest Jimmy Lishman on Shameless between 2011 and 2015. Jimmy, first introduced on the show as Steve Wilton, was a wealthy medical school drop out turned skilled car thief, who won the heart of the eldest member of the Gallagher clan, Fiona (Emmy Rossum) in the show's first episode. The couple would go on to have a passionate, yet dysfunctional, relationship that played out over multiple seasons until Jimmy made his final departure in the show’s fifth season.
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What else has Justin Chatwin appeared in?
Over the course of his career, Chatwin has also had roles in series including Lost, Orphan Black, American Gothic, Weeds, and Another Life. When it comes to films, he has starred in movies including Dragonball Evolution, Bang Bang Baby, and, most recently, The Walk.
Nolan Price's ailing father
Law & Order fans saw Nolan’s personal and professional lives collide when his father’s failing health coincided with a difficult case that brought up similar end-of-life issues.
Nolan was in the midst of prosecuting a woman who fatally shot her father in the back of the head as part of what she said had been an assisted suicide. The successful businessman was suffering from frontotemporal dementia and getting worse, and had begged his daughter to help him end things on his own terms, she said. Nolan argued in court that her decision to pull the trigger classified the case as a “murder” and initially refused to give her a deal, but later had a change of heart after his own father’s plight, and he allowed her to plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter.
Thomas first confronted Nolan about their father’s health while the attorney was working on the case at the office with Assistant District Attorney Samantha Maroun (Odelya Halevi).
Although Nolan had been ignoring his calls, Thomas urged his brother to consider “what is best for dad.”
“He’s dying,” Thomas stressed before walking out.
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Nolan later confided in Maroun that he and Thomas didn’t see eye-to-eye on his father’s health. Although he acknowledged that his father was “old” and his “body is shutting down,” he didn’t believe it was time to call in hospice to provide end-of-life care, like his brother did.
“Thomas just, he sees things differently,” he told her. “Or less optimistically anyway. And I get where he’s coming from. It’s hard, a trip to the hospital, the emergency phone calls in the middle of the night, but when you love someone, you deal with hard.”
The brothers were pushed to make a heartbreaking final decision after Nolan got a text in court later in the episode and was rushed to the ICU, where a doctor told Nolan and Thomas that their father had developed dysphasia, a condition that made it impossible for him to swallow.
The brothers had to decide whether they wanted to put in a feeding tube, which could prolong their dad’s life by a few months, or “manage his pain levels” to “make his passing as comfortable as possible," a doctor explained.
While Nolan, who had been made his father’s healthcare proxy, started to ask the doctor what the process of installing a feeding tube would entail, Thomas asked for a moment alone with his brother.
“Seriously?” Thomas asked him. “A feeding tube?”
“It’s either that or we just sit there and watch him die,” Nolan said.
Thomas argued that putting in a feeding tube would be “cruel” and told Nolan that in the end, it wouldn’t “change his reality or ease his pain.”
“You think we should just give up on him like we did with Christopher?” Nolan shot back, seemingly referencing an earlier family tragedy.
The comment could have been a nod to their other brother, who Price revealed in Season 21’s “The Great Pretender” had died of a drug overdose.
“That’s not fair,” Thomas replied. “Dad can’t get out of bed, he’s barely coherent now, he’s going to be fed through a tube. I understand how you’re feeling Nolan, but it’s time to let him go.”
What happened to Nolan Price’s father on Law & Order?
In the final scene of Season 24, Episode 11, brothers Nolan and Thomas Price were seen boxing up their father’s belongings in his hospital room — including an old photo showing three smiling boys. Their father is no longer in the bed, and Thomas tells his brother, "We've got a meeting tomorrow at the funeral home" — suggesting that Nolan had ultimately opted against having doctors insert a feeding tube to keep his father alive. While Thomas assured Nolan, "We did the right thing," Nolan still appeared conflicted as he left the room.
To keep up with Nolan’s family's backstory and other characters, watch Law & Order Thursdays at 8/7c p.m. on NBC or stream episodes when they arrive on Peacock.
