Mariska Hargitay revealed during an appearance on The Today Show that she feared she was losing her job on Law & Order: SVU when she received a recent call. Hargitay has portrayed Olivia Benson since the very first season of the iconic series.

What happened when Mariska Hargitay got a call to host the Emmys?

Hargitay recently appeared on The Today Show and discussed with Savannah Guthrie her reaction to the offer of hosting the 2026 Emmy Awards. “I was backstage, doing my play, and 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?’” Hargitay recalled.

The actress, who herself is an Emmy winner, continued, “She asked me about it [hosting the Emmys], and at first, I thought she was kidding. I actually thought she was kidding. It took me a while to process it.”

Hargitay admitted that she initially “couldn’t understand” the request, as “historically” comedians have hosted the Emmys. “It was probably the farthest thing from my mind that I thought she was gonna say, so I actually was kind of shocked. But I said, ‘Listen, I’m about to go on [stage]. Let me think about it.’”

Hargitay accepted the gig after thinking about the prospect over the weekend. “I thought about it over the weekend, and then I started going, ‘Why not?’ which is where I kind of am in my life,” she explained.

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will take place on September 14, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, California. NBC and Peacock will air and stream it live, respectively. After Jane Lynch in 2011, Hargitay will be the first woman to host the event. She told Guthrie that she is feeling “incredibly honored,” adding that “knowing [I am] the first woman in 15 years [to host], it was absolutely thrilling.”