Young Sheldon Star Iain Armitage Began TV Career as an SVU Kidnapping Victim

A first role in SVU

Armitage’s first television acting role came in season 18 of Law & Order: SVU. The episode, “Chasing Theo,” premiered on NBC on January 11, 2017, when Armitage was 8.

He played Theo, a 6-year-old boy who disappears after his mother, played by Rachelle Lefevre, leaves him alone overnight to attend a party. Lieutenant Olivia Benson, played by Mariska Hargitay, and the SVU team investigate, including whether Theo’s nanny, played by Adriana DeGirolami, was involved.

A busy year for Armitage

Armitage is absent for much of the episode, but appears at its beginning and end. The role marked both his acting debut and his first Law & Order appearance.

Later in 2017, he played Shailene Woodley’s son in HBO’s Big Little Lies and young Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory spin-off. He also appeared in The Glass Castle, Our Souls at Night and I’m Not Here.

A connection with Esparza

Armitage had visited the SVU set before filming “Chasing Theo,” according to an undated #TBT post on his official Facebook page. The post showed him pretending to be a witness and spending time with Hargitay and Raúl Esparza. Esparza, who played Rafael Barba, is one of Armitage’s godfathers. Armitage’s father, Scottish stage actor Euan Morton, and Esparza appeared together in the 2003 Broadway production of Taboo; as a child, Armitage called Esparza “Pumpkin.”

Their only screen pairing

The SVU episode is the only time Armitage and Esparza acted together on screen. They also both took part in the 2020 virtual concert Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration, hosted by Esparza.