CANNES, France – Mariska Hargitay, the Emmy-winning star of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has unveiled a deeply personal revelation in her new documentary, My Mom Jayne: the man who raised her, Mickey Hargitay, was not her biological father.
The truth, she says, came to her decades ago but remained private until now.
A Lifelong Mystery Unraveled
Hargitay, 61, explains in the film—which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17—that her biological father is actually Italian singer Nelson Sardelli. The discovery came in her 20s when she saw a photo of Sardelli and immediately recognized the resemblance.
“It was like the floor fell out from underneath me,” she recalls in the documentary, per Vanity Fair.
Her mother, the legendary Jayne Mansfield, had a brief relationship with Sardelli in 1963 while separated from Mickey Hargitay. Though Mansfield and Hargitay reconciled by the end of that year, Mariska was born in January 1964—with Sardelli as her biological father.
Confronting the Truth
Hargitay, known for playing the fiercely determined Olivia Benson, channeled that same resolve in real life when she met Sardelli at 30. After attending one of his performances in Atlantic City, she approached him with a simple message:
“I don’t want anything, I don’t need anything from you… I have a dad.”
Despite the emotional weight of the moment, she later formed a bond with Sardelli, who appears in the documentary.
A Tribute to Both Fathers—and Her Mother’s Legacy
Though the revelation reshaped her understanding of her past, Hargitay emphasizes that Mickey Hargitay—who passed away in 2006—remained her true father in every way that mattered.
“There’s no one I was closer to on this planet,” she says. “I’m Mickey Hargitay’s daughter—that is not a lie.”
The documentary also serves as a tribute to her mother, Mansfield, who died tragically in a 1967 car crash when Mariska was just three. In a statement, Hargitay described the film as:
“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 adds, “I’ve always believed there is strength in vulnerability, and making this film confirmed that like never before.”
A Story of Identity and Healing
For years, Hargitay grappled with the knowledge that her life story wasn’t what she had believed. “Knowing I’m living a lie my entire life,” she told Vanity Fair, was a burden she carried silently—until now.
With My Mom Jayne, she not only uncovers long-hidden family secrets but also celebrates the enduring love of the father who raised her and the mother she lost too soon.
