Mariska Hargitay Goes Deep on Hosting the Emmys, Loving the Knicks and Ignoring People Telling Her to Leave ‘Law & Order: SVU’: ‘Do I Want to Quit Now? No’
Mariska Hargitay has opened up about hosting the 2026 Emmy Awards on 14 September, a role she takes on during a particularly busy and adventurous year that has also seen her make her Broadway debut and direct an HBO documentary about her late mother. The 62-year-old, who continues to play Olivia Benson on "Law & Order: SVU" while filming its 28th season, spoke about brainstorming ideas for the ceremony with a team of writers and dismissed suggestions that she should leave the long-running procedural.
Alongside hosting duties, Hargitay is nominated at this year's Emmys for directing and producing "My Mom Jayne", a documentary exploring the legacy of her mother, actress Jayne Mansfield, which she began filming in 2023 while still working on "SVU". She also discussed her devotion to the New York Knicks, including her friendship with player Jalen Brunson, and reflected on balancing multiple creative pursuits — stage performance, documentary filmmaking and live television hosting — within a single year, all while insisting she has no plans to quit her signature role any time soon.
- Mariska Hargitay will host the Emmy Awards on 14 September.
- She's Emmy-nominated for directing/producing documentary "My Mom Jayne".
- She dismisses calls to leave "Law & Order: SVU", still shooting season 28.
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Mariska Hargitay is an American actor best known for playing Olivia Benson, a New York police detective, in the television series Law & Order: SVU. The crime drama has run for decades, and Hargitay has remained its central cast member throughout much of that time.
The Emmy Awards are a major US ceremony honouring television, while Broadway is New York’s best-known theatre district. Hargitay’s work across acting, directing and documentary-making connects her to several parts of the entertainment industry; her film My Mom Jayne looks at the life and legacy of her mother, actor Jayne Mansfield.
Hargitay is also a supporter of the New York Knicks basketball team, whose players include Jalen Brunson. Her continuing role on SVU matters to viewers because Benson is the show’s defining character, and the series’ long run has made Hargitay closely associated with it.