Mariska Hargitay hosting the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards was not a thing that had ever crossed my mind. But also, I’m here for it and I love the idea. How did the Law & Order: SVU mainstay land that job, you might wonder? Well, she wondered the same thing, but didn’t let that stop her from accepting the unexpected opportunity.As Olivia Benson in the NBC series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Hargitay has done nearly 600 episodes in 27 seasons of the drama series and is soon to be returning for Season 28 on the 2026 TV schedule. While the Emmy host is typically someone with a background in comedy, it's airing on NBC and she is one of the network’s most notable stars. Plus, if they want to shake things up a bit, then she’s the perfect choice. During a recent interview with Deadline, the former ER star said: I’m not a comedian, so that’s not my thing. I think I’ll do it a little bit different than they would. And I think that they asked me to do it because of that. I think that they also want to switch it up a little bit.I can’t imagine how nerve-wracking the possibility of hosting the Emmy Awards must be, especially when that’s not in your typical wheelhouse. But it sounds like Mariska Hargitay is taking the right approach, not consulting with previous hosts and instead doing her own thing. Trying to turn herself into someone she’s not would just come across as forced and disingenuous, so finding where she’s most comfortable and playing to her own strengths seems like the best way to go. Rest assured that the star of Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” music video will not be out on stage alone without a safety net. She’s already hard at work pitching ideas with a team of writers that includes some of folks from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She’s also recently concluded her Broadway debut in Every Brilliant Thing, so she has a sense of what it’s like to be in front of a live audience. And it will be an audience full of fellow actors that are her friends and peers, which she acknowledged by saying: I’m at a place in my life where I am excited about doing new things. And if not now, when? It’s such an extraordinary opportunity and I am excited about it. I’m excited to see all the people. I’m excited to celebrate people’s work. I guess I don’t really see it as about me. I see it about being part of something so historic.From Broadway to directing the HBO documentary titled My Mom Jayne about her late actress mother Jayne Mansfield, to the out-of-the-box decision to host the Emmy Awards, Knicks superfan Mariska Hargitay is definitely not shying away from doing new things. I know that I’ll not only be tuning in to see if the SVU star has any hidden talent she decides to showcase as host, but also to see how many wardrobe changes she might have and what she decides to wear over the course of the night. In the meantime, keep making your predictions for which 2026 Emmy Award nominees might take home the trophies until all are revealed in the live show on September 14th on NBC and streaming via Peacock subscription.