Mariska Hargitay Calls Documentary ‘My Mom Jayne’ Her ‘Life’s Work’

Mariska Hargitay has no regrets. It’s clear just by looking at her. She’s radiant as ever, but lighter, too, now that she’s shared her family’s story with the world in her feature film directorial debut My Mom Jayne.

“I think it was my life’s work in many ways,” Hargitay, 61, said of the documentary during a post-screening Q&A at the Wythe hotel in New York City on Oct. 21. “I feel like a different human being since I made the film. I do. It’s cleared a lot of space, and I learned so much. It was such an extraordinary process.”

After the film premiered in June at both the Cannes Film Festival and Tribeca Festival to widespread critical acclaim, it will continue to screen at various festivals throughout this fall.

My Mom Jayne, which tells the story of Hargitay’s late mother, Hollywood icon Jayne Mansfield, has nabbed two Critics Choice Award nominations: one for Best First Documentary Feature and one for Best Biographical Documentary. The winners will be announced Nov. 9.

For Hargitay, the film has already accomplished its most integral mission. She says the responses from people — the stories they tell her after watching the film — are what mean the most.

“I hope that people come away with the universality of the film, and they realize it’s a family story. I’d like to think of it as a gentle invitation to look at our own families,” she said. “And that’s what has been the biggest through line is that people have said, ‘I never thought I could, but now I think I can.'”

Added producer Trish Adlesic, “I think at the end of the day, for me, life is all about relationships. And sometimes they get fractured. They get harmed along the way, and we walk away. And we’re like, ‘Ah, I’m not going to deal with it.’ And I think [this film] is just an opportunity to take some space to think about it, and consider maybe making that call or writing that letter.”

Hargitay, who appeared on Oct. 21 episode of the Good Hang with Amy Poehler podcast, also proved once again that she’s quite funny in her own right — a trait she just may have inherited from her mother. My Mom Jayne is full of stunning archival footage of the prolific Mansfield, but Hargitay noted that she and Adlesic had to be judicious about what ultimately made the final cut.

“We could have built a 20-minute set section that would’ve shown that [Jayne] was a comedian. I mean really so funny and so fast and so witty and lightening sharp that then we were like, ‘Okay, we have to pick and choose,’ ” Hargitay said. “The archival was a gift from God. It was an embarrassment of riches. It was a blessing — and a curse because there was so much of it.”

When Hargitay was just 3 years old, she survived the car accident that killed Mansfield in 1967 at age 34. In the film, Hargitay grapples not only with the loss of her mom, but also a deeply nuanced family history full of secrets.

“I have no regrets. None,” Hargitay said of making the documentary. “There’s so much love and healing from all factions of the family. Now we’re all one.”

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My Mom Jayne is streaming now on HBO Max.