Mariska Hargitay couldn’t have made it through her emotional directorial debut of My Mom Jayne — featuring the bombshell revelation about her biological parentage — without her family’s support.
Hargitay, 61, premiered the documentary about her mother’s legacy at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, May 17, where she walked the red carpet with husband Peter Hermann and their three children.
Hargitay and the Younger alum, 57, have been married since 2004, going on to welcome sons August, 18, and Andrew, 12, as well as daughter Amaya, 14.
August, Amaya and Andrew looked all grown up on Saturday, as they dressed to impress in their formalwear. Hermann twinned with his sons in black tuxedos featuring bow ties, while Hargitay and Amaya opted for sparkly frocks.
At the end of the evening, Hargitay took to social media to praise Hermann for always being in her corner.
“Thank you for being by my side. Now and always,” the Law and Order: SVU star gushed via Instagram, sharing a pic of herself and Hermann entering the theater arm in arm. “I love you.”
My Mom Jayne looks back at the life and legacy of Hargitay’s mother, actress Jayne Mansfield, who died in a June 1967 car crash. In the doc, Mariska also revealed that bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay isn’t her biological father.
“He was my everything, my idol. He loved me so much, and I knew it,” she recalled to Vanity Fair in a profile published on Saturday. “I also knew something else — I just didn’t know what I knew.”
When Mariska was in her 20s, she realized her biological father was actually Italian entertainer Nelson Sardelli, who had a brief romance with Mansfield. Ten years later, she met Sardelli in person. (Mansfield and Mickey, who died in 2006, briefly split before reconciling shortly before Mariska was born.)
“I’ve been waiting 30 years for this moment,” Mariska recalled of the reunion. “I went full Olivia Benson on him. I was like, ‘I don’t want anything, I don’t need anything from you. I have a dad.’ There was something about loyalty. I wanted to be loyal to Mickey.”
While Mariska felt like she was “living a lie” up until that point, she eventually realized that Mickey would always be her dad no matter what.
“I’m Mickey Hargitay’s daughter — that is not a lie,” she tearfully added. “This documentary is kind of a love letter to him, because there’s no one that I was closer to on this planet.”
Mariska and Hermann also adopted two of their children, which made her comprehend Mickey’s perspective even more.
“They are my kids. Now I understand so much, and, boy, is it sweet,” she gushed.
