When Mariska Hargitay was announced as host of the 2026 Emmys, the Law & Order: SVU star seemed like a surprising choice: After all, she’s not a comedian or a TV host like most awards show emcees.
And it seems like Hargitay herself was surprised, even “shocked,” when she got the call to host, particularly since it came from a top NBCUniversal exec.
“I was backstage, doing my play, and I was about to go on and I got a call,” Hargitay said on Thursday’s Today show of getting the ask while performing in Every Brilliant Thing on Broadway. “It was Pearlena [Igbokwe], who’s head of the network, and I thought, ‘Oh, I should answer this. Am I getting fired?’ ”
But no, Igbokwe, who serves as chairman of television studios, NBC Entertainment and Peacock scripted, was asking her about hosting the Emmys.
“I thought she was kidding. I actually thought she was kidding,” Hargitay said, adding that she “couldn’t understand” why she was being offered the job, “because I thought, ‘I’m not a comedian, and it’s historically comedians.’”
Indeed, Hargitay is the first Emmys host not primarily known for comedy to preside over the telecast since the reality-host-led Emmys in 2008.
“It was probably the farthest thing from my mind that I thought she was gonna say, so I actually was kind of shocked,” she said, adding that she told her boss she would think about it.
“That day was a very different show,” she joked.
“I thought about it over the weekend,” Hargitay recalled. “And then I started going, ‘Why not?’ which is where I kind of am in my life. I was so incredibly honored and knowing it was the first woman in 15 years [to host the Emmys since 2011 host Jane Lynch] was absolutely thrilling, and I am somebody to take on new challenges.”
Hargitay may be new to hosting the Emmys, but she’s already an Emmy winner, picking up a trophy in 2006 for her role as Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU, the longest-running primetime drama in U.S. TV history, which begins its 28th season on NBC in the fall.
And her HBO documentary about her mother, Jayne Mansfield, My Mom Jayne, is up for three Emmys, including best documentary or nonfiction special, best directing for Hargitay and best cinematography.
In a statement when she was announced as the Emmys host, Hargitay said, “Bringing important stories into the light has been the heartbeat of my career. It’s my great honor to host the 78th Emmy Awards — in the 100th birthday year of my beloved NBC — and celebrate this extraordinary community of storytellers. Whether it’s an actor or a director, a costumer or a sound designer, we are all so privileged to take part in creating television that unites us. Regardless of how, where or when we watch, we are together in our laughter, our tears, our love of stories — and our delighted anticipation to see what happens next.”
The Emmys telecast is set for Monday, Sept. 14, live on NBC and Peacock starting at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT from the Peacock Theater.
Going into the 78th annual Emmys, with voting for the winners running from Aug. 17-26, The Pitt leads this year’s nominees with 25 nods, followed by Hacks with 24 nominations, a record for a comedy series, and Widow’s Bay with 19 nods, leading all new shows.
