1 week Ago By Sophia Soto, Yardbarker
Mariska Hargitay, best known for her role as Olivia Benson in NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , is making her feature film directorial debut with My Mom Jayne . The HBO Original Documentary is set to release this June and will be the first time the actress/director has delved into her mother's story and legacy after her death in June of 1967. Mariska Hargitay was three years old when her mother, Jayne Mansfield, tragically died in a car accident at the age of 34.
The film follows Mariska as she seeks to know, understand, and embrace her mother for the first time. Through intimate interviews and a collection of never-before-seen photos and home movies, 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. On Instagram, she wrote , "I feel grateful, fulfilled and so proud to share this film.
I never got to make a movie with my mom, and she never got to make the kind of movies she wanted to make. #MyMomJayne is a place of meeting for us, and words fail me to describe how meaningful it is to tell her story, my own, and ours together." A post shared by HBO (@hbo) Along with directing, Hargitay will also serve as a producer alongside Trish Adlesic and executive producer Lauren Bromley.
She has directed multiple episodes of Law & Order: SVU. "This movie is a labor of love and longing. 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," Hargitay expressed in a statement.
"I’ve always believed there is strength in vulnerability, and the process of making this film has confirmed that belief like never before." My Mom Jayne will also be available to stream on Max. Sophia Soto is a writer and interviewer with a passion for all things entertainment.
She is a Senior Reporter at The Nerds of Color and contributes to Yardbarker, Screensphere, Den of Geek, What to Watch, Nerdtropolis, and Temple of Geek. You can see her past work on Remezcla, Young Hollywood, Looper, Paste Magazine, Primetimer, Soundsphere, and Starry Constellation Magazine.
