When it comes to icons, Mariska Hargitay is one. The 61-year-old is one of the most recognizable faces on TV due to her 26 seasons on Law & Order: SVU. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that acting is in her blood due to her mother being the iconic ’50s and ’60s actress Jayne Mansfield. And with Hargitay’s feature directorial debut My Mom Jayne finding a home on HBO, a lot of people are going are going to get to know Mansfield alongside her daughter through interviews and never-before-seen photos and home movies.
Hargitay was three years old when her mother, Jayne Mansfield, tragically died in a car accident at the age of 34. At the time of her death she had 35 credits under her name, been married 3 times, and 5 children. Mariska’s father was bodybuilder and actor Mickey Hargitay, Mansfield’s second husband. And this original documentary follows Hargitay as she grapples with her mother’s public and private legacy and discovers the layers and depth of who Jayne was, not only to her audience but to those who were closest to her.
As director and producer, Hargitay said, “This movie is a labor of love and longing. It’s a search for the mother I never knew, an integration of a part of myself I’d never owned, and a reclaiming of my mother’s story and my own truth. I’ve always believed there is strength in vulnerability, and the process of making this film has confirmed that belief like never before.”
My Mom Jayne premieres this June on HBO and Max.
