Manitoba-born, Ottawa-based actor Adam Beach is joining the cast of TV hit Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, part of the long-running law enforcement franchise.

Beach is set to reprise his role as Brooklyn police detective Chester Lake, a character he portrayed during a recent guest stint on the crime drama.

Canadian actor Adam Beach, most recently seen as U.S. soldier Ira Hayes in Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, will join the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
(Dreamworks)

Law & Order: SVU is one of the franchise's three current series. The original Law & Order is now in its 17th season, while Law & Order: Criminal Intent is in its sixth year.

Beach is a familiar face to Canadians for his roles in the film Dance Me Outside, its spinoff CBC-TV series The Rez and the TV movie Cowboys and Indians: The J.J. Harper Story.

After years of playing smaller roles on TV and in movies, Beach has in recent years been gaining prominence in Hollywood, winning praise for his work in the feature films Smoke Signals, Windtalkers and, most recently, in Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers.

Beach is also set to appear in Law & Order creator Dick Wolf's upcoming HBO project Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

A spokesperson for Wolf confirmed Beach was joining the cast of Law & Order: SVU on Wednesday, as part of the announcement about series stars Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni — who have been with the show since its debut — returning for the show's ninth season.

With files from the Associated Press