Anthony Anderson on Receiving TV Festival Honor & Hosting 2026 Soul Train Awards

Anthony Anderson stands among the most multi-faceted entertainers with a career that spans more than 30 years across the big and small screens. The acclaimed actor, producer and television host will be honored October 22 with the 2026 Canopy Award at the North Fork TV Festival on Long Island, NY. He’ll join the likes of Christopher Meloni, Marcia Gay Harden, and Kelsey Grammer who have received the highest honor at the festival. 

As part of the ceremony, the Black-ish star and executive producer is also set to participate in a conversation and audience Q&A. “His impact on television and his commitment to storytelling make him a fitting recipient of this year’s Canopy Award,” Noah Doyle, founder of the North Fork TV Festival said. 

It’s a busy time for the multi-hyphenate, who was also tapped to host the 2026 Soul Train Awards. He did this once before in 2013. The show airing on BET (simulcasting for the first time on CBS) November 27 (taped November 5) returns for the first time since 2023. Anderson’s credentials speak for themselves as the master of ceremonies for the BET Awards in 2015 and 2016, the NAACP Image Awards for eight consecutive years and the 75th Annual Emmy Awards.

Here Anderson opens up about receiving his latest accolade and career highlights.

What does it mean to be recognized by the North Fork TV Festival with the Canopy Award? 

Anthony Anderson: First and foremost, it’s an honor and a privilege to be recognized for anything that I do. It’s humbling when someone wants to recognize the work that I’ve done. The work itself creates a foundation and helps me give back to the community. I’ve been blessed with a gift, and it’s my responsibility to share this gift that I have. This is a special moment. 

How important are these festivals to not only drawing awareness to storytellers old and new, but to foster connections?

It’s very important for us as a community of artists. We are there to celebrate one another, and to share ideas, which builds collaboration. I think events like this are important to form relationships. I get to live my dream every day. To be able to share space with people who share the same sentiments as me means everything. To come together to tell stories means something to us personally, to the community in which we come from, and then on top of that, we get to entertain and educate.

Is there anyone you’re looking forward to seeing? 

You know, while I was living in New York doing Law & Order, I was back and forth to Los Angeles. When I was doing these trips, Kelsey Grammer was on my plane with me, going to Los Angeles and coming back to New York for that point in time. We had somewhat of a friendship, just by being on the same plane with one another. So, I’m excited to see him. We shared some great conversations on a plane when we crossed paths. I’m excited to see him in particular and catch up. I hope he remembers those times on the plane with me. I’m just excited to be around fellow artists that understand what the struggle is and the sacrifices that we make and the dedication to the craft itself.

You’ve been on a number of sets over the years. Is there one show you were on an episode or two, but wish you could have done more?

There is one. I was on Shameless. I did one episode of Shameless back in the day. I played a brother of one of the main characters. My character had Tourette’s. On that particular show, you were expected to be off script. I’ll be off book, even in rehearsal. I was there trying to find the character, just to find his idiosyncrasies while on set and whatnot. If you didn’t know that, you thought I didn’t know what I was doing, and that I may need help with lines. After a rehearsal one of the producers came into my trailer and explained to me what was expected of all the actors that came on set. And, you know, it came from the top down.

I know what I was supposed to be doing. It’s just that I was just trying to find levels, so when we did roll I wasn’t over the top with this character to put them at ease. So I say all of that to say it was only scheduled for one episode. And once they understood what I was doing and they allowed me to do it, it was great. But I really wish that I could have done more with this character on that show. Maybe I was so bad that they said, “You know what? One and done for this guy. That’s it.” That was one character that I had that I wish I was there just so I could play in that space as this character.

You mentioned Law & Order. I think a lot of fans wish you were on the revival longer. Would that be something you would want to go back to? Do you like the dramatic space?

I do like the dramatic space. I did three years of Law & Order. Then at the peak with the 20th anniversary, we were canceled. After that I did Black-ish for eight seasons. Then at the end, I called up Dick Wolf. I said, “I know it’s Wednesday. As of Friday, I’m a free agent.” Two weeks later I was back in New York for the reboot of Law & Order. I think about what Law & Order did for me as an actor on the dramatic side. They were so welcoming to have me back. For the reboot, that is one I wish that I stayed for a little bit longer as well. I had four good seasons out of Law & Order over time. It’s the show that keeps on going. To say that I wouldn’t want to be back would be untrue, but everything runs its course and has its time. But that’s something that I would love to do, just because Law & Order is an institution. You can turn on your television any day of the week, anywhere in the world, and there are Law & Order episodes playing. More often than not, I’m on the screen. So yeah, that is one that I wish I could still be a part of with NBC and with Dick Wolf and that production. It was just a blast.

We were talking about how the North Fork TV Festival and others help independent creators. In the world of AI and these billion dollar media mergers, how do you think Black-ish would have done in today’s landscape?

I don’t think anything would really be different. You look at the shows that are on right now like Law & Order or SVU (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.  They’ve been on for 25, 30 years. The industry has changed now. Creating shows and getting shows on the air and having them find an audience has changed somewhat. Yet to be around where Black-ish did 170 plus episodes over eight seasons, that’s nothing to sneeze at. I think though we would still be successful. I would like to think that other shows with a cast like ours, subject matter like ours, would be able to live and to be unaffected by the AI and the way that some of the industry is moving. I think it would still be successful. It’s still about the art of storytelling. It’s still about these interpersonal stories that resonate with an audience, and that keeps it going, and that keeps people intrigued.

You’re getting ready to host the 2026 Soul Train Awards. How does that stand out to other hosting opportunities you’ve had in the past?

It’s great. I look at what Soul Train means to the culture. What Soul Train stood for, what it still stands for, it’s a place where black artists, musicians in particular, can come and showcase their talent and move a culture in the way that it did. You look at black music, and when I say black music, I mean all of it. R&B, hip-hop, soul, jazz, country, it’s a multi-generational show about culture. It’s a show that I used to watch with my family, my parents, my aunts, and my uncles. I liken that to what we did with Black-ish. It  was a show that families got together and watched and told the stories. People just got together and watched that as a family. That was done with Soul Train. I think it’s great that they’re bringing the show back, and I’ve been asked to host the show. I know what it means to me, and it means to my household. I also know what it means to the culture and how it moves the culture forward. It gives artists an outlet to perform and show their talent.

Anything you want to tease about what we can expect?

We’re just going to have a great time. We’re going to infuse some humor in there. We’re going to tell some great stories musically as we honor the legends from the past and embrace the future legends.

The North Fork TV Festival takes place October 21–22 with a schedule of exclusive screenings, conversations, industry panels, special events, and programming. For more information, visit the festival website.

2026 Soul Train Awards, November 27, 8/7c, BET (simulcasting on CBS, BET Her, VH1, MTV2, and Logo)