Mariska Hargitay Honors Her Late Mom Jayne Mansfield In Emotional Directorial Debut

For Mariska Hargitay, this next project is more than just work — it’s a personal journey of healing, discovery, and love.

On April 8, the Law & Order: SVU star announced her directorial debut, My Mom Jayne, a deeply emotional documentary that explores the life and legacy of her late mother, the iconic Hollywood bombshell Jayne Mansfield. Set to premiere on HBO in June, the film promises to be a heartfelt tribute — not just to the star the world remembers, but to the woman Mariska barely got the chance to know.

“This movie is a labor of love and longing,” Mariska said. “It’s a search for the mother I never knew… a reclaiming of her story and my own truth.” 

She was only three years old when she and her two older brothers survived the 1967 car crash that killed Jayne at age 34. The loss has echoed throughout her life, and now, nearly 60 years later, she’s telling their story her way.

HBO, in a joint Instagram post with Mariska, described the documentary as “strength in vulnerability,” spotlighting the actress’s courageous effort to embrace the memory of a mother she never got to grow up with.

The film brings viewers into the most intimate corners of Mariska’s world — from never-before-seen family photos and home movies to honest conversations about her mother’s public image and private self. Through this lens, she begins to stitch together a fuller, more personal picture of the glamorous and complex woman behind the headlines.

Jayne Mansfield would have turned 92 on April 19. And while time has passed, Mariska has never stopped feeling her presence. “I always look for signs,” she once said during a speech at Variety’s Power of Women event in 2024. That night, when she saw comedian Amy Schumer in a sparkling pink dress — Jayne’s favorite color — she whispered, “I feel like my mom’s here with me.”

It’s not the first time Mariska has honored her mother through fashion and spirit. At Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards in 2021, she wore a bright pink Valentino gown. In 2023, while being honored by the Women’s Media Center, she shared a surreal red carpet moment with Jane Fonda. As photographers called out “Mariska, Jane,” she smiled and whispered to Fonda, “You brought her here tonight.” That evening, in her acceptance speech, she paid tribute again: “…I bring her in here in this moment because I think she would love this night.”

Even in a 2024 shoot for Interview Magazine, Mariska drew inspiration from her mother’s classic photo poses. It’s all part of a continuing effort to understand and celebrate the woman whose image shaped so many lives — including her own.

Mariska is no stranger to the documentary world. In 2017, she produced the Emmy-winning I Am Evidence, which spotlighted the backlog of rape kits in the U.S. That same passion for truth and justice fuels her work both on and off-screen. Now in its record-breaking 26th season, she still leads SVU as Captain Olivia Benson — while also running the Joyful Heart Foundation, which she founded in 2004 to support survivors of sexual violence and abuse.