Mariska Hargitay to make feature film directorial debut in honor of iconic mother

Miami Herald

08-04-2025

Mariska Hargitay is making her feature film directorial debut in honor of her late mother.
On April 8, the 61-year-old Emmy Award-winning actress, best known for her role in NBC's 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,' announced she will be producing and directing an upcoming HBO documentary that hits close to home.
The film, titled 'My Mom Jayne,' will tell the story and legacy of Hargitay's mother, Jayne Mansfield, nearly 60 years after her death.
'This movie is a labor of love and longing,' Hargitay said of the documentary in a press release shared by Warner Bros. Discovery.
'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,' she added.
Mansfield was an actor, singer and Hollywood bombshell in the 1950s and early 1960s.
She married Mr. Universe winner Mickey Hargitay in 1958 before welcoming three children together — sons Miklós 'Mickey' Hargitay, Jr. and Zoltán Hargitay and daughter Mariska Hargitay — per People.
The couple divorced in 1964, shortly after Mariska Hargitay was born. Mansfield died three years later in a tragic 1967 car accident. She was 34 years old.
Mariska Hargitay and her two brothers — who survived the crash — were in the backseat of the vehicle.
'I've always believed there is strength in vulnerability, and the process of making this film has confirmed that belief like never before,' Hargitay said of the opportunity to direct the film.
Hargitay and Mansfield share a lot in common. Not only are they both Golden Globe winners, but they also both have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — alongside each other, nonetheless.
Mansfield earned her star in 1960, followed by Hargitay in 2013.
According to Warner Bros., the documentary 'follows Mariska as she seeks to know, understand, and embrace her mother for the first time.'
In the film, Hargitay partakes in a series of 'intimate interviews' and shares a collection of 'never-before-seen photos and home movies' to give an honest account of her mother's story.
'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,' the press release adds.
It's Hargitay's first time directing a feature-length project, but she brings with her plenty of experience.
Hargitay has directed several episodes of 'Law & Order: SVU' in addition to starring as Detective Olivia Benson since 1999.
The show has been running for 26 seasons (and counting), making Benson the longest-running character in the longest-running American primetime drama, per the New York Times.
Hargitay also co-produced HBO's 2017 documentary, 'I Am Evidence,' about the rape kit backlog in the United States, per People.
She now joins executive producer Lauran Bromley and producer Trish Adlesic — whom Hargitay worked with on 'I Am Evidence' — for her newest HBO project, per Variety.
'My Mom Jayne' debuts this June on HBO and will be available to stream on Max, per Warner Bros.