Mariska Hargitay Was “Living a Lie” for 30 Years. Now She’s Embracing Her Mother, Jayne Mansfield—and Her Biological Father

Hargitay sees a link between the familial silence-breaking of My Mom Jayne and her work with her Joyful Heart Foundation, a nonprofit for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse. In 2017 she produced I Am Evidence, a documentary about thousands of unprocessed rape kits languishing in America’s police lockers. Last year, she revealed that she had been raped by a friend during her 30s. “That was my own parallel journey with shame and not wanting to carry that anymore,” she says, “wanting for so long to be free of [the secret].”

I Am Evidence (directed by Trish Adlesic, who also coproduced My Mom Jayne, and Geeta Gandbhir) made Hargitay fall in love with filmmaking, and she plans to make more documentaries. “That’s one of the things I’m carving out in my future at SVU, making sure that I can have the balance.” When I ask about the fate of television’s longest-running character, she clutches her heart. “I’m not done with Olivia Benson yet,” she replies. “She’s got more work to do.”

For now, though, Hargitay is preparing herself for My Mom Jayne’s premiere at Cannes. Mansfield appeared at the festival in 1958, leaving behind a trail of glamorous photos. There’s Mansfield posing in a bikini with a chihuahua; Mansfield waving from the airplane steps; Mansfield in a gown facing a wall of photographers—always smiling, always in character as Jayne Mansfield, bombshell. “The fact that I get to take her back and to tell her story there, I just don’t have the words,” Hargitay tells me, vibrating with nervous excitement. As we finish our conversation, she thinks about everything it took to get her to this point. “Thirty years, and now it’s coming out.… It’s wild.” She beams so strenuous, I worry that her cheeks might explode. “I feel like I’m seven!”

HAIR, DENNIS LANNI; MAKEUP, DEANNA HAGAN; MANICURE, KAYO HIGUCHI; TAILOR, KATY PATEL; SET DESIGNER, ISAIAH WEISS. PRODUCED ON LOCATION BY BIRDHOUSE. FOR DETAILS, GO TO VF.COM/CREDITS.