Winner of an EmmyActor Mariska Hargitay of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit lost her mother, movie icon Jayne Mansfield, in a terrible car accident in 1967 when she was just three years old. Hargitay never had the opportunity to get to know her mother well and has no recollection of the collision, despite the fact that she and her siblings were in the car at the time.
“One of the things that I grew up hearing is how smart she was, how determined she was, and what a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful sense of humor she had,” adds Hargitay.
However, Mansfield’s public persona as a hypersexualized, platinum blond actress was in stark contrast to the private Hargitay grew up with. “As I got older and started to see sort of this public image and the photos of her, it was all very confusing, because nothing lined up with what I had heard about her,” Hargitay recounts.
These two interpretations of Mansfield are attempted to be reconciled in Hargitay’s latest documentary, My Mom Jayne. She compares the process of making a movie to an archaeological dig. Hargitay began by reading fan letters that included her mother. She then proceeded to search storage bins that had not been opened since 1969.
“It was during COVID when I had the time and space to think about all of this, and think about her, and finally face some of the letters and that people had written me over the years,” she elaborates. “I was holding these priceless memories in my fingers like treasures. I therefore began making cold calls to these individuals.
Hargitay claims that during it all, she was looking for hints of the intelligent mother of five who played the violin and piano and spoke many languages, the woman beneath the Hollywood façade.
“Finding those private moments those were my ways into her, into her soul,” she continues. “I would catch an expression that I never saw or just a private thought or a private moment, and I would be like, ‘there you are.'”
A complex fact about Hargitay’s own identity is also revealed in the documentary; she was brought up thinking that actor and bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay was her father, but the movie shows that her biological father is actually another man, Nelson Sardelli, whom she discovered in her twenties but never made public.
Interview highlights
Regarding Jayne Mansfield, who was a 21-year-old mother when she moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting
Her actions, her ambition, her fearlessness, and her unwavering determination have left me in complete admiration. She made the decision to carry out her strategy. I don’t know whether I could have relocated to a different state with my kid, who is about 4 or 5 years old, but I just believe she had a lot of courage. I am genuinely amazed and amazed by what she accomplished.
Regarding Mansfield’s phony voice utilized in her bombshell character
I believe that’s how we all felt about my siblings. Since my sister was older, spent more time alone with my mother, and had known my mother before that phony, put-on voice came into play, I believe she may have comprehended it better. I believe my sister comprehended that. However, it was just something that I didn’t believe to be real for all of us. And that’s frightening, isn’t it? when we hear a fake voice or when our parents aren’t being sincere. The tone of someone’s voice has always made me wonder if I should trust them when I enter a room. Do they have authenticity? Therefore, I felt quite uneasy and unsettled by her lack of sincerity and the fact that she was acting and providing a voice.
Regarding the motorbike accident that woke Hargitay awake
I got in a motorcycle accident when I was 34. I was riding on the back of a friend’s motorcycle when the car struck it, and I recall flying through the air and thinking, “Oh my God, this is it, this is how I’m going to die,” because everything happened in slow motion. I’m going to die at 34, just like my mother, and I can’t believe it.” After I hit the asphalt, I exclaimed, “I’m alive, and I’m not dying.” My “a-ha” moment came then. At that point, I declared, “this cycle is breaking now.” I’m not going to take this with me. My life is not hers. And I recall being acutely aware of this, making it apparent that this tragedy served as a wake-up call of sorts for me. It has taken a while to get to this point.
When she first saw Nelson Sardelli, her biological father
I don’t know how to describe it, but it felt like the last piece of the most difficult puzzle you’ve ever assembled. My body’s cells were genuinely letting out a breath. It was such a confirmation that I was correct and had some knowledge. I believe that was also the time I discovered how deeply I could trust myself because I was always correct and knew what I was doing.
Nelson’s face reminded me of my own when I saw it! I felt oddly, uncomfortably at home, and every single feature and object made sense.
On how Hargitay’s approach to her own acting career was affected by the way the studio system mistreated her mother
Even though I was young at the time, I tried to check with myself as much as I could, and if anything didn’t feel right, I would push back. I just walked in with a little bit of my own point of view and maybe some armor. I have to pursue this career on my own terms. And I conclude that has been my slogan ever since. I’ll tell you if you don’t tell me. Because she was instructed what to do by a lot of individuals, including those who gave her awful advise, had bad motives, were nasty and disrespectful, and had a purpose.
This interview was produced and edited for transmission by Susan Nyakundi and Ann Marie Baldonado. Molly Seavy-Nesper, Beth Novey, and Bridget Bentz modified it for the internet.
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