Documentary My Mom Jayne, received a 4-minute standing ovation following its premiere at the currently ongoing Cannes Film Festival. The documentary marks Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actor Mariska Hargitay’s feature directorial debut, its subject being her mother, icon Jayne Mansfield. This also essentially marks the first time she has addressed her mother’s legacy and her own memories of her short time with her, publicly — close to 6 decades after Jayne’s death.
But the big detail unearthed in the documentary which has everyone doing a double take? The fact that Mariska’s biological father wasn’t Mickey Hargitay, the Hungarian bodybuilder and Jayne’s second husband — it is in fact Italian singer Nelson Sardelli.
As big a revelation as this was, absolutely nothing changed for Mariska, in terms of how she felt for Mickey, the man that raised her.
During a chat with Vanity Fair, she articulated, “He was my everything, my idol. He loved me so much and I knew it…I also knew something else. I just didn’t know what I knew”. Even excerpts from the documentary reveal how for all practical purposes, Mickey was the only man she ever believed to be her father, irrespective of them being related by blood or not: “I grew up where I was supposed to, and I do know that everyone made the best choice for me. I am Mickey Hargitay’s daughter — that is not a lie”, the docu sees her share.
As far as her biological father Nelson goes, Mariska addresses their first meeting as well in the documentary: “I went full Olivia Benson on him. I was like, ‘I don’t want anything, I don’t need anything from you…I have a dad”, she says.
Coming back to what the documentary is actually about, Mariska introduced it rather poignantly, prior to the premiere. She said, “Tonight I’m celebrating the power that film has for me to remember somebody I didn’t have the good fortune to know or grow up with”. Jayne had passed away in 1967 in a car crash. She was 34. Incidentally, Mariska was in the passenger seat of the car wit her three brothers. She was all of 3 years old.
My Mom Jayne, is set to debut on OTT, June 27.
