The 78th Emmy Awards have added another substantial group of presenters for Monday night’s ceremony, bringing Matthew McConaughey, Shailene Woodley, Jamie Lee Curtis, Awkwafina, Emma D’Arcy, Julia Garner, John Mulaney, Sofía Vergara and more familiar screen faces into the NBC and Peacock broadcast.
The newly named group also gives Fox’s forthcoming Baywatch reboot a conspicuous place in an evening built around television’s past and present. Stephen Amell, Noah Beck, Jessica Belkin, Hassie Harrison, Paul Anthony Kelly, Thaddeus LaGrone and Brooks Nader are all on the presenter list and all star in the new version of the series.
That setup is unusually well suited to an awards show: a current television event can recognize the work being honored, while also using presenter pairings and anniversary appearances to nod toward the shows that became part of TV’s long-running cultural memory. The Emmys will lean directly into that latter idea with dedicated appearances tied to the 30th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the 50th anniversary of Charlie’s Angels.
The latest presenters headed to the Emmys stage
McConaughey and Woodley are among the highest-profile additions. Woodley arrives following a major recent achievement: she won her first Emmy at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 6. Her win came in the guest actress in a drama series category for playing Annie Clay in Hulu’s Paradise.
Curtis is another presenter whose awards-season presence gives the booking added context. She was nominated for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for her performance in FX’s The Bear. The presenter role does not indicate a result in that category, but it keeps a nominee from one of television’s most visible recent comedy series involved in the main ceremony.
The full set of newly listed presenters includes:
- Matthew McConaughey
- Shailene Woodley
- Jamie Lee Curtis
- Stephen Amell
- Awkwafina
- Noah Beck
- Jessica Belkin
- Scott Caan
- Emma D’Arcy
- Julia Garner
- LL Cool J
- Woody Harrelson
- Hassie Harrison
- Paul Anthony Kelly
- Thaddeus LaGrone
- John Mulaney
- Brooks Nader
- Emmy Rossum
- Sofía Vergara
As always with an awards-show presenter announcement, the list establishes who will be part of the telecast but does not reveal exactly which prizes each person will introduce. Those assignments, along with any onstage pairings, remain part of the broadcast itself. Still, the breadth of the names spans drama, comedy, music and film, while the Baywatch contingent connects a forthcoming network project to an IP with deep television recognition.
Why the ‘Baywatch’ booking stands out
Belkin, Harrison, LaGrone, Amell, Beck and Nader are all attached to Fox’s upcoming reboot of Baywatch, the show identified here as an iconic 1989 series. Putting several cast members on the same Emmy presenter roster gives the new production a notable mainstream-TV showcase without suggesting that it is itself competing at this year’s awards.
Related coverage includes Matthew McConaughey, Shailene Woodley Join 78th Emmys Presenters.
For fans who track television through physical artifacts as much as episodes, revivals can put fresh attention on a franchise’s older memorabilia: home-media editions, period promotional pieces, magazine covers, cast publicity photographs and other items tied to the original program. An Emmys appearance does not by itself establish value, demand or authenticity for any of those materials. It does, however, place the name Baywatch in a high-profile television conversation immediately before its next incarnation arrives.
That distinction matters. A reboot’s cast is not a replacement for the original series’ history, and collectors should treat items associated with separate productions as separate categories. The cast announced for the awards show represents the forthcoming Fox reboot; it should not be conflated with memorabilia connected to the 1989 program. Clear identification—production, year, performer and format—remains essential whenever entertainment collectibles are discussed or sold.
The Emmys have not offered further details here about the reboot’s role during the telecast beyond its actors serving as presenters. There is no stated indication of a trailer, footage reveal, tribute or release update. The significance of the announcement is simply the scale of the cast representation in the presenter lineup.
Two milestone TV reunions are also planned
The evening’s built-in nostalgia component goes beyond the presence of a reboot cast. David Boreanaz and Sarah Michelle Gellar will represent Buffy the Vampire Slayer in recognition of the show’s 30th anniversary. The pairing places two performers associated with the series on the Emmy stage for a milestone moment tied to one of television’s enduring genre properties.
Charlie’s Angels will receive its own anniversary acknowledgement. Kate Jackson, Cheryl Ladd and Jaclyn Smith are set to represent the series as it reaches its 50th anniversary. The planned appearance links the ceremony to a distinctly earlier era of network television while placing attention on three of the show’s central stars.
These anniversary segments are worth separating from competitive categories. They are celebratory television-history moments, not awards results or announcements of new editions, products, releases or collectibles. Yet their inclusion underlines how award broadcasts can function as a meeting point for current nominees, established stars and older programs whose audiences have continued to preserve their place in pop culture.
Linda Cardellini is also among the presenters previously announced for the show. Her appearance arrives during a busy period for the actor’s genre-TV visibility; readers can find more on her role as Pamela Voorhees in Crystal Lake.
The already announced names make for a wide-ranging roster
The latest reveal expands an existing presenter list that already included Odessa A’zion, Linda Cardellini, Macaulay Culkin, Alan Cumming, Sally Field, Jon Hamm, David Harbour, Marcello Hernández, Peter Krause, Dan Levy, Julianna Margulies, Annie Murphy, Niecy Nash-Betts, Keke Palmer, Amanda Peet, Amy Poehler, Florence Pugh, Rachel Sennott and Zendaya.
Together, the two sets of names create a broad mix of performers associated with different corners of TV and screen culture. Established dramatic performers appear alongside comedy figures, younger stars, actors from long-running properties and talent linked to contemporary streaming series. That is a practical awards-show formula, but it also gives viewers multiple reasons to watch outside of the competitive races.
Presenter lists can be especially interesting for fans because the announced group does not necessarily map neatly onto a single network, studio or genre. Woodley’s recent Paradise recognition, Curtis’s The Bear nomination, the Baywatch reboot presence, and the Buffy and Charlie’s Angels milestones all point in different directions. The ceremony gathers them under one television-wide banner.
Noah Kahan will perform during In Memoriam
The broadcast will also include a musical contribution from Noah Kahan. He is scheduled to perform “Bridge Over Troubled Water” during the In Memoriam segment.
That segment traditionally occupies a distinct emotional space from the awards presentations and celebratory reunions. The announced song confirms the musical selection for the tribute, while the broader details of the segment have not been specified here. Its placement means the telecast will move between competition, milestone recognition and remembrance rather than treating the evening as a continuous sequence of prize announcements.
Mariska Hargitay will host the 78th ceremony
Mariska Hargitay is set to host the 78th Emmy Awards and will also serve as an executive producer. Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay of Jesse Collins Entertainment are the ceremony’s other executive producers.
With Hargitay at the center of the show, an expanded presenter group, planned anniversary appearances and Kahan’s In Memoriam performance, the NBC and Peacock telecast has outlined many of its biggest onstage components ahead of Monday night. The remaining unknowns are the precise flow of the show, the award recipients and the presenter-category assignments that will only become clear once the ceremony begins.
