Nicole Kidman was the target of a joke during Mariska Hargitay’s opening monologue at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, after the host borrowed lines from the Australian actor’s famous cinema advertisement.
Hargitay, best known for playing Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, began the ceremony with a pre-recorded musical number before arriving on stage at the Peacock Theatre.
Instead of singing the words to I Love Rock ’n Roll, she performed a spoof version titled I Love TV Screens. Backup dancers wearing television sets on their heads carried her on to the stage.
“The Emmys are celebrating their 78th year and NBC is celebrating its 100th year,” Hargitay told the audience. “And I have been on Law & Order: SVU for all of them.”
The actor, the first woman to host the Emmys in 15 years, also joked about the number of celebrities who had appeared as guest stars on the long-running police drama.
“Reassuring to see so many familiar faces out there. And I’m just talking about how many of you I’ve arrested on ‘SVU,’” she said, before turning to comedian and actor Martin Short.
Hargitay later shifted to a more heartfelt speech about the power of television and storytelling, saying viewers came to TV “for magic, to laugh, to cry, to care”.
She then delivered the lines: “Dazzling images on the silver screen, sound that I can feel.”
Kidman, who was watching from the audience, immediately objected. “Now, Mariska, come on,” she said. “That’s mine. That’s my bit. You can’t do that.”
The words were taken from Kidman’s intensely delivered AMC cinema advert, released in 2021 to celebrate the communal film-going experience and encourage audiences to return to cinemas after the pandemic.
The 60-second commercial became a viral meme, with its dramatic language developing a life of its own. The lines have also become familiar to cinema audiences, who often cheer or recite them when the advert is shown.
Kidman repeated her protest as Hargitay continued the joke. “That is my line. That is actually my line,” she said.
Hargitay responded: “Zip it, movie lady! It’s TV’s turn tonight!”
