Mariska Hargitay Shares the Real Reason She Was Tapped to Host 2026 Emmys

Mariska Hargitay‘s 2026 Emmys hosting gig came to her as a pleasant surprise.

The longtime Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star will host this year’s television awards ceremony on Monday, September 14. “When I read that, I was simultaneously surprised, like, ‘wow’ and ‘of course,’ and ‘this is amazing’ and ‘it’s so obvious,’” Savannah Guthrie gushed while chatting with Hargitay on the Thursday, August 13, episode of Today. “How did this happen?”

Hargitay said she got the call to host while backstage at her Broadway play, Every Brilliant Thing, which she starred in from May 26 to July 5. “I got a call. It was Pearlena [Igbokwe], who’s head of the network. And I thought, ‘Oh, I should answer this. Am I getting fired?’” she quipped. “And so, she called me, and she asked me about it. And at first, I thought she was kidding. I actually thought she was kidding, and then she wasn’t. And it took me a while to process it.”

Guthrie went on to ask, “Did you say yes and then process it?” Hargitay replied, “Oh, no, no, no, no. I was like, ‘Wait, what?’ I couldn’t understand it because I thought, ‘I’m not a comedian, and it’s historically comedians.’ It was probably the farthest thing from my mind that I thought she was gonna say, so I actually was kind of shocked.”

 

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She continued, “I said, ‘Listen, I’m about to go on. Let me think about it.’ That day, actually, was a very different show. Anyway… And I thought about it. I thought about it over the weekend, and then I started going, ‘Why not?’ which is where I kind of am in my life.”

Hargitay said she was “so incredibly honored” to be asked to host, especially knowing she would be the “first woman in 15 years” to lead the awards ceremony. “I am somebody to take on new challenges,” she stated.

The last woman to host the Emmys was Jane Lynch back in 2011. Hosts in recent years have included Jimmy Kimmel, Neil Patrick Harris, Seth Meyers, Andy Samberg, Stephen Colbert, Michael Che, Colin Jost, Cedric the Entertainer, Kenan Thompson, Anthony Anderson, Eugene and Dan Levy, and Nate Bargatze.

Hargitay was announced as the host of this year’s Emmys last month. “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,” she said in a statement at the time. “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.”

She added, “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.”

Today, Weekdays, 7 am/6c, NBC

2026 Primetime Emmys, Monday, September 14, 8/7c, NBC and streaming live on Peacock