Mariska Hargitay and Jamie Lee Curtis Have Heated Debate Mid-Interview over Correct Pronunciation of Los Angeles

Brenton BlanchetMon, June 15, 2026 at 7:16 PM UTC

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Mariska Hargitay and Jamie Lee Curtis on June 13, 2025Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty -

Jamie Lee Curtis and Mariska Hargitay playfully debated each other on the pronunciation of Los Angeles

The pair discussed how to really say the name of California's most-populated city during their "Actors on Actors" discussion, published on Monday, June 15

"If I had a jury here, everyone would vote for me," Hargitay joked

Mariska Hargitay and Jamie Lee Curtis don't see eye to eye on the pronunciation of Los Angeles.

The Law & Order: SVU star and the Scarpetta actress joined forces on Monday, June 15, for Variety and CNN's "Actors on Actors" series, with their conversation at one point turning to the pronunciation of Los Angeles as they reflected on Hargitay's 2025 documentary, My Mom Jayne.

"You explained to me that you were making a doc, you had explained to me that you had come back to Los Angeles, you had gone through the beginning of the storage unit," Curtis, 67, began, before Hargitay, 62, put up her hand for her to pause.

"I'm trying not to laugh, because you just said Los Angeles," Hargitay said of Curtis' pronunciation of the city.

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The pair debated the pronunciation before. "Okay, we had this argument," Curtis said, as Hargitay reiterated, "She says Los Angeles!"

"But what do you call it, Los Feliz?" Curtis asked.

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"Yes, but we're not talking about Los Feliz. ... You don't say 'Los Angeles'," Hargitay added in the clip. "If I had a jury here, everyone would vote for me."

Hargitay and Curtis then asked those around them on the set of the interview how they pronounce the name of California's most-populated city. "Nobody says that. You guys, please God, let's move on," Hargitay said, apologizing to Curtis for stopping her when she was saying "deep s---."

"I am about to say something deep," Curtis added. "It's okay, you can laugh."

Elsewhere in the pair's conversation, Hargitay opened up about making her Broadway debut last month for a six-week run in Every Brilliant Thing. Speaking with Curtis, she called the opportunity a "dream come true" and compared it to "playing" in a "different sandbox."

"I am very unlike [SVU's] Olivia Benson, but nobody knows that except for my friends. Being onstage has been my lifelong goal," Hargitay said. "[In my 20s], I became friends with the amazing [stage actress] Kathleen Chalfant. She said, 'Don't sell out and do TV.' An hour later I got SVU. So that was a hard call to make. Getting this call from my agent with the offer for the play Every Brilliant Thing, I was pinching myself."

Hargitay also spoke with PEOPLE about the new role in a May cover story, explaining that she "identified with the character in so many ways."

"It definitely feels like you're going out without a net, but that's also the thrill of it," she said. "Even though I'm still challenged at SVU, I know the drill. I'm a boss lady. I can say, 'Cut. Sorry guys, let's go again. Can we take it from the top?'" However, she can't do that on Broadway, "but that's the challenge," she says. "Bring it on, baby, let's do this."

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”