Mariska Hargitay is known for her powerhouse role on Law & Order: SVU, but off-screen, she recently opened up about a deeply personal turning point that shook her to the core.
The actress revealed that at age 25, she found out Mickey Hargitay, the man she had always believed to be her father, was not her biological parent. In a raw and emotional chat with Alex Cooper on Call Her Daddy, Hargitay shared the devastating moment she discovered the truth about her biological father, Nelson Sardelli.
In her new documentary My Mom Jayne, premiering June 27 on Max, Mariska dives into the painful revelation that redefined her identity. She recalled visiting the home of Sabin Gray, a devoted Jayne Mansfield fan, and being surrounded by memorabilia of the mother she lost at age three. The overwhelming display of personal items already had her on edge, but the real shock came when Gray casually asked if she wanted to see a photo of “Nelson.” Confused, Mariska asked, “Who’s Nelson?” But deep down, she already knew.
The man in the photo was Nelson Sardelli, a former Vegas entertainer, and in an instant, Hargitay felt the truth hit her “on a cellular level.” That moment changed everything. Overcome with emotion, she left Gray’s house in a daze, barely remembering how she made it to her brother’s place. Hargitay described it as an out-of-body experience, dissociating from reality as the weight of the discovery sank in.
Despite confronting her brother and eventually her father, Mickey, both denied the claim. Mickey, in fact, insisted she looked exactly like his own father and refused to entertain the idea that she wasn’t his daughter. In the most ironic twist, Mariska admitted that she is more like Mickey than anyone else in the family. “I’m mini Mickey,” she said, calling the moment of confrontation “extraordinarily painful.”
Looking back, Hargitay says that was the moment she truly became an adult. While devastated, she chose to protect Mickey’s heart and never brought up the subject again. He continued to joke about it in later years, brushing it off as a wild rumor, and she let him believe that. Whether he knew the truth or not is something she says she’ll never know, especially since Mickey passed away in 2006. But emotionally, Hargitay says he made a choice to believe he was her father, and that was enough.
She draws a parallel to her own experience with adoption. Hargitay and her husband, Peter Hermann, are parents to three children, August, Andrew, and Amaya, and she says there is no difference in love between her adopted and biological children. That’s why she understands Mickey’s emotional truth, even if it wasn’t biological.
Interestingly, Mariska Hargitay kept her relationship with Sardelli a secret for more than 30 years. The emotional complexity of that truth and the weight of protecting the man who raised her add even more depth to her story. But now, with My Mom Jayne, she’s laying it all bare for the world to see.
In many ways, the documentary isn’t just about Jayne Mansfield or uncovering biological truths, it’s about love, loyalty, and identity. And for Hargitay, this journey has redefined what family means and how the past always finds a way to resurface. If there’s one takeaway, it’s this: the truth may hurt, but sometimes love is a choice, and it’s the one Mickey Hargitay made every single day.
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