Pretty soon TV viewers will see Mariska Hargitay in a role she’s never played before, and it’s one-night-only – host of the Primetime Emmy Awards. You might not immediately think of her as a comedian, but then neither does she, she tells Deadline.

This fall, Hargitay returns for an astounding 28^th season as Det. (now Capt.) Olivia Benson on NBC’s Law & Order: SVU, but before that, on September 14th, Hargitay will take to the Emmys stage.

The host slot often goes to performers with a comedy background: standup comic Nate Bargatze did the honors last year. The year before, the show was hosted by comedic actors Eugene Levy and Dan Levy. The last time the Emmys were on NBC, the ceremony was emceed by SNL veteran Kenan Thompson. Hargitay says she hasn’t consulted previous hosts “because 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.”

We’re doing something different this year, and I’m excited about that. And I’m allowing that… I’m going to do the Mariska Emmys.

“I’m at a place in my life where I am excited about doing new things. And if not now, when?” Hargitay says. “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.”

She adds, “I’m sort of taking that pressure off myself because there’s so many genius comedians out there that are just so funny and people that just I love and worship and truly make me so happy, but that’s not what they wanted. And so we’re doing something different this year, and I’m excited about that. And I’m allowing that… I’m going to do the Mariska Emmys.”

As the September 12 Primetime Emmys approach, Hargitay shared insights on her preparations, including a collaboration with the staff of a newly unemployed late-night host.

“We’re at the beginning stages, and so we’re throwing out a lot of different ideas,” she notes. “I’m working with an incredible team of writers — the writers from Colbert… We’ve been meeting a lot and discussing a lot and pitching a lot of ideas. We’re pitching so many ideas.”

I cannot tell you how many people — famous people — ask to be a dead body on SVU.

One that’s being discussed: a comedy bit with an SVU touch.

“I cannot tell you how many people — famous people — ask to be a dead body on the show. It’s a thing,” Hargitay laughs. “And it is so funny to me that that’s what they want out of all the things… just to be a dead body. It’s on their bucket list. That’s one of the ideas that we were talking about. So, I don’t know where it’s going to go. We have all these ideas and now it’s sort of picking the best and editing and cutting it and see what we’re going to do.”

Starring on the uber-serious Law & Order: SVU might not seem like ideal preparation for an Emmy hosting romp. And yet…

“If you came to the set of SVU and you saw how we cope with things and the long hours and the subject matter, there’s a lot of joking because it’s a marathon,” Hargitay relates. “I think I’ve always used humor to cope with everything. And so it’s sort of more me than not, if you will. Olivia Benson is a character that I live in a box. That’s a character. But if you knew me, I live in the comedy world. It’s how I deal with things. So, this is maybe even more comfortable in a way.”

Also serving Hargitay well – performing live in her Broadway debut over the summer in the play Every Brilliant Thing.

“Actually, I thought about that exact thing and I said, ‘I don’t know that I would’ve agreed to host the Emmys if I hadn’t just had that experience,’” she affirms. “It was interesting because I got the call to host the Emmys as I was backstage preparing to go on. It was a 3 o’clock show on Sunday and I saw that my phone was ringing… I looked and it was Pearlena [Igbokwe], head of NBC, and I was like, ‘Why is she calling me on a Sunday? Is everything OK?’ And the fact that I was in my dressing room preparing to go out to do this live thing and doing something that was so foreign to me before I did it and something I was terrified at doing, but so excited about — two, three things can be true at once.”

Hargitay continues, I went, ‘Pearlena, I’m not a comedian. That’s not what I do. This is normally a job for comedians.’ And then I thought about it over the weekend and I said, ‘Bring it.’ And I think that having this sublime, just incredibly rewarding experience on Broadway and having this interactive relationship with the audience and a live audience was so extraordinary and again, thrilling to me that I thought, ‘Yeah, I can do this.’”

It’s been an extraordinary year for Hargitay. In addition to completing her 27th season on Law & Order: SVU and making her Broadway debut, she made her nonfiction directorial debut with the documentary My Mom Jayne, an exploration of her mother, the late actress Jayne Mansfield, and buried family secrets. The HBO film has earned 3 Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special (the documentary categories will be announced at the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony earlier in September, so Hargitay will be free and clear by the time the Primetime show rolls around on the 12^th).

The catharsis of directing the documentary paved the way, Hargitay believes, for daring career moves like Broadway and the Emmy hosting role.

“I don’t think the things that have happened afterwards would’ve happened without this film coming into the world,” she observes. “And I remember afterwards, people asked me how I felt and I described it as I have more internal space… That’s what I mean about how healing it was.”

The curtain rises on the “Mariska Emmys” Monday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, broadcast live coast to coast and streaming simultaneously on Peacock from the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.

EXCLUSIVE: Dan Perlman, one of the creators and stars of Showtime’s critically acclaimed comedy series Flatbush Misdemeanors, has wrapped on the NYC shoot for an untitled coming-of-age comedy marking his feature directorial debut.

Starring up-and-comers Romo Lee (The Kindergarten Teacher) and Lucas Adler (The Plague), the film is adapted from Perlman’s award-winning short Cramming, with a new plot. It follows two desperate eighth graders at an elite NYC prep school who recruit a crew of misfits to shut down their school, one day at a time, in hopes of evading finals forever.

Perlman directed from his own script. Billed as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off meets Election, the film’s cast also includes a murderer’s row of stand-up comics, including Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite), Gary Gulman (The Great Depresh), Jamie Lee (Ted Lasso), Sean Patton (English Teacher), and Yamaneika Saunders (Life & Beth), plus Tony winner Laura Benanti (The Gilded Age) and Connie Shi (Law & Order).

Lucien Formichella and Charlotte Gilbert produced, with Charlotte Kassimir exec producing alongside Amer Hilal and Perlman. Selected for The Gotham’s Project Market as part of Gotham Week’s Shorts to Features track, with support from Rooftop Films’ Filmmakers Fund, pic’s cast also includes Jorie Blake Rosen, Matthew James Herman, Charlie Emerson, Vaughan Reilly, Sarah Mattle, Lissa Carandang-Sweeney, Ruby Karp, Napoleon Emill, Adam Gilbert, Tommy Bayer, and Greer Barnes.

The film’s co-lead Lee’s only major prior credit is Netflix’s drama The Kindergarten Teacher starring Maggie Gyllenhaal. Adler has previously been seen in Charlie Polinger’s Cannes-premiering award-winner The Plague. Lee is unrepped; Adler is with Coast to Coast and LBI Entertainment.

Perlman co-created Flatbush Misdemeanors with Kevin Iso, also writing and starring in the series, which held a rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating across its two-season run. He adapted the series from a prior zero-budget, Oscar-qualified digital short. Perlman directed the Flatbush episode “boomerang”, which Vulture praised for its “masterful direction.” Other credits include the shorts Practice Space and No Sex; the latter has over 4 million views on YouTube. Most recently, Perlman directed and starred in the award-winning documentary short Being Bublé. Also a stand-up who has been featured on Comedy Central, Perlman is with CAA and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.

Bamford is repped by Omnipop Talent Group, Gersh for personal appearances, and Ginsburg Daniels Kallis; Gulman by IAG, AGI Entertainment Media & Management, and Yorn, Levine, Barnes; Lee by WME, Brillstein, and Brecheen Feldman Breimer; Patton by SWB Entertainment and Granderson Des Rochers; Saunders by CAA, AGI, and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz; Benanti by Gersh, Untitled, and Schreck Rose Dapello; and Shi by Stewart Talent and Mosaic.