A conversation between longtime Hollywood stars Mariska Hargitay and Jamie Lee Curtis took an unexpected and hilarious turn when the pair found themselves debating the correct way to pronounce Los Angeles. The lighthearted exchange happened during Variety and CNN's Actors on Actors series on June 15, as Curtis and Hargitay reflected on Hargitay's 2025 documentary, “My Mom Jayne.”
As Curtis discussed Hargitay's journey making the film, she said, "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."
© FilmMagicBefore Curtis could continue, Hargitay quickly interrupted. "I'm trying not to laugh, because you just said Los Angeles," Hargitay said, drawing attention to Curtis' pronunciation of the city. The moment immediately reignited a friendly debate the two had apparently shared before.
"Okay, we had this argument," Curtis responded.
Hargitay doubled down, saying, "She says Los Angeles!" pronouncing “Los” in Spanish and “Angeles” in English. Curtis then attempted to defend her position by bringing up another famous Southern California location. "But what do you call it, Los Feliz?" she asked.
"Yes, but we're not talking about Los Feliz," Hargitay replied. "You don't say 'Los Angeles.' If I had a jury here, everyone would vote for me."
The discussion quickly became a group effort as both actresses turned to crew members on set for support. The informal poll appeared to favor Hargitay's view, prompting her to declare, "Nobody says that. You guys, please God, let's move on."
Realizing she had interrupted a more meaningful point, Hargitay immediately apologized. "I am about to say something deep," Curtis joked. "It's okay, you can laugh," she added, keeping the playful mood alive.
© Heidi Gutman/NBCUniversal via GeOne of the interview's most humorous highlights was the debate over pronunciation. This discussion even reached the TODAY show, where anchor Savannah Guthrie demonstrated both the English and Spanish pronunciations of the city. Guthrie noted that people typically stick to a single language for the name rather than blending the two into a "Spanglish" version.
What is the correct way to pronounce ‘Los Angeles’?
Historically, neither side is completely "wrong" because the name comes from Spanish, but English speakers in Southern California have developed their own local pronunciation over time. The city's full original name was El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles ("The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels"), founded under Spanish rule in 1781.
In Spanish, Los Ángeles is pronounced roughly: Los Ángeles (lohs AHN-heh-les). The "g" sounds more like an English "h," and the stress falls on "ÁN."
Modern English-speaking Angelenos typically say: Los Angeles (loss AN-juh-liss)
© Getty ImagesThis is the pronunciation Mariska Hargitay was defending. Most residents do not say "Lohs An-heh-les" in everyday English conversation. Jamie Lee Curtis appears to favor a pronunciation that preserves more of the Spanish sound, particularly the "Los" part. That's why Hargitay joked that "nobody says that."
The interesting wrinkle is that Southern California place names are wildly inconsistent. Locals often anglicize some Spanish names while preserving Spanish pronunciations in others, for example, San Pedro, which locals often say "San PEE-dro," or La Jolla, which retains the Spanish-style "La HOY-a."
So if the question is historical accuracy, the Spanish pronunciation is closer to the original name. If the question is how locals in Los Angeles generally pronounce their city today, Hargitay's version is much closer to common usage.
