Mariska Hargitay Announces New Documentary About Her Late Mother Jayne Mansfield: ‘Strength in Vulnerability’

The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star announced on Tuesday, April 8 that she’s been working on My Mom Jayne, a documentary about the life of her late mother, Hollywood icon Jayne Mansfield.

In a joint Instagram post with Hargitay, 61, HBO noted the project, which will premiere in June, is defined by “strength in vulnerability,” and added that the documentary is about Hargitay “embracing… the mother she never knew.”

My Mom Jayne marks Hargitay’s feature film directorial debut. The longtime actress was on a mission to get to know Mansfield on her own, as an adult, some 57 years after her mother’s tragic death.

Mansfield would’ve turned 92 on April 19.

“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 says. “I’ve always believed there is strength in vulnerability, and the process of making this film has confirmed that belief like never before.”

When Hargitay was just three years old, she, along with her two older brothers, survived the car wreck that killed Mansfield, then just 34, in 1967.

According to a release, the project will see Hargitay — through intimate interviews and a collection of never-before-seen photos and home movies — “grapple with her mother’s public and private legacy and discover the layers and depth of who Jayne was, not only to her audience but to those who were closest to her.”

Hargitay, who shares three children with her husband of 20 years Peter Hermann, has spoken often about her mother’s posthumous influence on her life.

During her speech as an honoree at Variety’s Power of Women event in New York in May 2024, Hargitay celebrated fellow honorees Anitta, Shonda Rhimes and Amy Schumer. The latter, dressed in what the SVU star described as a “glorious sequiny pink dress,” received a special shoutout from the actress.

When Hargitay saw Schumer, 42, in her gown, she said she “immediately thought” of Mansfield, who famously loved the color pink, telling the Trainwreck star, “I feel like my mom’s here with me.”

“Because you’re Jayne Mansfield incarnate right now, so thank you for that,” she said to Schumer. “I always look for signs, and she’s here and she’s today with me.”

On special occasions, Hargitay herself will often channel her mom through fashion. When she received Glamour’s Women of the Year award in 2021, she rocked a pink one-shoulder Valentino number.

Then, in October 2023, Hargitay was honored with an award from the Women’s Media Center. Prior to the start of the ceremony, Hargitay found herself taking photos with organization co-founder Jane Fonda on the red carpet — and listening to photographers yell their names in tandem.

The moment wasn’t lost on Hargitay, who turned to whisper something to Fonda on the carpet, and later took a moment in her acceptance speech to honor the serendipity.

“I met the magnificent Jane Fonda tonight, who obviously is one of my heroes and mentors. And as the photographers were standing in front of me, they said, ‘Mariska, Jane. Mariska, Jane,’” the actress explained.

“And so I thank you for that moment and I thank you for being able to stand next to you, and I also feel that you invoked my mother here tonight,” she continued, lauding Fonda.

“I thank you for that, and I bring her in here in this moment because I think she would love this night.”

And, as recently as September 2024, even Hargitay’s photoshoot for Interview Magazine was inspired by shots of the famous screen siren.

My Mom Jayne isn’t Hargitay’s first foray into the documentary world, either. In 2017, the multi-hyphenate produced Emmy-winning I Am Evidence about the rape kit backlog in the United States.

The actress is also still chasing down perps on the streets of New York City as Captain Olivia Benson on SVU, which is currently in it’s record-breaking 26th season on NBC, and she continues to work closely with her foundation Joyful Heart, which she launched in 2004 with a focus on healing and advocacy for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse.

Law & Order: SVU airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, and My Mom Jane premieres on Max in June.