Mariska Hargitay simply dropped a large household bombshell that’s been buried for over 30 years, one which rewrites the narrative of her well-known Hollywood upbringing.
The “Law & Order: SVU” star surprised followers on the Cannes Film Festival with the premiere of her new documentary “My Mom Jayne,” a deeply private tribute to her late mom, display siren Jayne Mansfield.
But within the strategy of honoring her mother, Mariska Hargitay revealed one thing nobody noticed coming: the person who raised her, bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, will not be her organic father.
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Mariska Hargitay’s Shocking Paternity Reveal

The jaw-dropping reveal marks Hargitay’s characteristic movie directorial debut, and the documentary does not maintain again.
Alongside the tragic story of her mom’s loss of life in a horrific automobile crash in 1967, when Mariska was simply three years outdated, comes the revelation that her actual father is former Las Vegas entertainer Nelson Sardelli.
According to her interview with Vanity Fair, the reality got here out when she was 25 years outdated. She confronted Mickey, who insisted he was her father, and so they by no means spoke of it once more. But the questions lingered. She puzzled why she didn’t fairly really feel like she shared the identical Hungarian roots as her brothers Zoltan and Mickey Jr.
When she turned 30, she lastly met Sardelli in Atlantic City, the place he was performing.
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Mariska Confronts Real Dad After 30 Years

Hargitay advised Vanity Fair that she launched herself to him as his daughter. His emotional response? “I’ve been waiting 30 years for this moment.” But she wasn’t prepared to leap right into a father-daughter reunion.
“I don’t want anything. I don’t need anything from you… I have a dad,” she reportedly advised him, channeling her signature SVU depth. “There was something about loyalty. I wanted to be loyal to Mickey.”
The emotional complexity of discovering a hidden aspect of her household weighed closely.
“Knowing I’m living a lie my entire life,” she admitted, grew to become a painful reality to face. Sardelli, now in his late 80s, seems within the documentary alongside along with his two daughters, Mariska’s half-sisters.
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Eventually, Hargitay discovered peace and got here to know why her mom, Jayne Mansfield, returned to Mickey Hargitay. It was to supply stability.
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Mariska Hargitay Breaks Down After Emotional Reunion With Secret Sisters

Before the Cannes premiere, she held a non-public screening in Las Vegas for her newfound siblings, and their response left her shaken.
“They just wept and wept and wept. These two women that I love so much. I made them secrets!” she stated. “It’s so heartbreaking to me.”
Now 61, Hargitay says she finally felt ready to tell the truth. “I grew up where I was supposed to… I’m Mickey Hargitay’s daughter, that is not a lie.” She called the film a “love letter” to the man who raised her, adding, “there’s no one that I was closer to on this planet.”
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Mariska Says Therapy Triggered ‘Narcoleptic’ Response While Unpacking Her Deepest Family Secret

She also opened up about her therapy sessions, where she would often drift off to sleep whenever conversations veered too close to painful memories… “like a narcoleptic!” she joked.
She initially chalked it up to exhaustion from the grueling hours of filming “Law & Order: SVU,” all while balancing life as a mother of three. But her therapist had another theory. The sudden sleepiness was likely a deeply ingrained defense mechanism, protecting her from confronting unresolved trauma.
To break through it, she’d need to face the shame tied to her sex symbol mother and finally confront the long-hidden truth about her biological father.
Mariska Hargitay Honors Late Mom Jayne Mansfield

“My Mom Jayne” also reflects on her mother’s iconic status as a Golden Globe-winning actress and 1950s sex symbol, whose life ended tragically in a crash on June 29, 1967.
Jayne, her partner Sam Brody, and their driver were killed instantly when their car slammed into a tractor-trailer in Biloxi, Mississippi. Miraculously, Mariska and her two brothers, asleep in the backseat, survived with minor injuries.
Jayne left behind five children. Jayne Marie (from her first marriage to Paul Mansfield), Miklos, Zoltan, and Mariska (with Mickey Hargitay), and Antonio (with third husband Matt Cimber).
With “My Mom Jayne,” Hargitay not solely honors a Hollywood legend however lastly lifts the curtain on the household secret she’s held shut for many years.