Law and Order SVU’s Molly Burnett left as Grace Muncy after less than a year

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Law and Order.  Law and Order SVU saw Detective Grace Muncy leave after less than one year but why did actress Molly Burnett leave? She first joined the cast last July with Grace making her debut in the second episode of season 24, The One You Feed. She was working at the Bronx Gangs Unit before signing up to help Olivia Benson (played by Mariska Hargitay) and her team on a rape and murder case. Grace at first rubbed her fellow squad members up the wrong way as a down-to-earth millennial but quickly won everyone over and became an asset to the team. So much so that her good work didn’t go unrecognized and was offered a promotion to a DEA task force which she couldn’t refuse so Grace’s final episode was in the season 24 finale. Law and Order SVU: Why did Molly Burnett leave as Grace Muncy? (Image: GETTY/NBC) Neither the creators at Law and Order SVU or Burnett herself has given an explanation for her departure. There doesn’t seem to be any bad blood between herself and the show though as she has posted several pictures with her and cast members like Ice-T and Octavio Pisano. She received plenty of praise from fans for her performance in the series finale with Burnett emotionally responding: ‘Hi friends! I am in Paris but finally getting to read your sweet messages about last night’s episode…I hope y’all enjoyed!!!’. So it’s more than likely that Grace was simply written out of the show for creative reasons. Law and Order SVU: Grace Muncy left in the season 24 finale. (Image: NBC) There is also the fact that Burnett has been busy working on another project in recent months. She is going to be starring in the upcoming horror movie New Me as one of its leading characters called Rihanna. The synopsis for the film, which is currently in post-production, reads: ‘A young mother, desperate to understand why she struggles to emotionally connect with her baby and husband, returns to her roots where reliving past traumas her memory has blocked allows her to become the artist, mother and lover she’s always wanted to be – But at a terribly haunting price.’ An official release date for the project hasn’t yet been announced but it is expected to come out later this year. Molly Burnett will be recognised for starring in Queen of the South. (Image: NETFLIX) Fans will probably best remember Burnett for portraying Melanie Kiriakis for eight years on NBC’ s Days of Our Lives. She then went on to star in Netflix ‘s Queen of the South as Kelly Anne Van Awken. The drug drama may have ended two years ago but the stars were able to reunite during a protest for the ongoing writers’ strikes, sharing pictures of some of the cast and crew together. Law and Order is available to watch on NBC.