Mariska Hargitay Revealed as Host of 2026 Emmy Awards: ‘It’s My Great Honor’

The ‘Law & Order: SVU’ star will host the ceremony on NBC and Peacock on Sept. 14

Mariska Hargitay will check off another career accomplishment this fall when she hosts the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.

The Law & Order: SVU actress, fresh off of her Broadway debut in Every Brilliant Thing, will host the 2026 Emmys, NBC announced on Tuesday, July 7.

Hargitay, 62, celebrated the news in a statement, saying, “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,” 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.”

The ceremony will take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Monday, Sept. 14. Nominations will be announced on Wednesday, July 8.

Recent Emmys hosts have included Nate Bargatze, Eugene and Dan Levy, Anthony Anderson and Keenan Thompson. Hargitay will be the first woman to host the awards show since Jane Lynch in 2011.

Hargitay has been nominated eight total times in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category for her performance as Olivia Benson in SVU, most recently in 2011. She won the award in 2006. As for SVU, the procedural itself has won six awards of its 23 all-time nods.

The career achievement comes amid a year of new territory for Hargitay, who kicked off a six-week run on Every Brilliant Thing in May. Before her debut, she told PEOPLE in a cover story that she was looking forward to the “challenge.”

“I had no idea what I was in for,” she said. “Everyone kept saying, ‘Wow, you’ve got to get your strength up.’ I was like, ‘Sweetheart, I’ve been on a show for 27 years. I got this….’ It was so exhausting in a new way.”

Hargitay, who is due back on the Law & Order SVU set to film her 28th season, thanked her “brilliant team” after her final performance on Sunday, July 5.

The Emmys will air live on Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, on NBC and Peacock.