Mariska Hargitay isn’t only sharing the story of her mother, Jayne Mansfield, with the world, but with her children.
The filmmaker opened up in a recent interview about her journey of wanting to better understand her mother, who died when Hargitay was 3. One of her methods? Celebrating Mansfield with her own kids, August, Amaya and Andrew, whom she shares with husband Peter Hermann.
The family threw a birthday party for Mansfield, who died in 1967 in a car accident at age 34, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The footage from the party is featured in Hargitay’s documentary about Mansfield, “My Mom Jayne,” which she directed and produced and is streaming now on Max.
Hargitay said on the July 1 episode of “The Run-Through with Vogue” podcast that she called up HBO during the pandemic to tell them she was ready to make the film, which was around the same time she threw the party.
“They thought it was the coolest thing, and it was so fun,” Hargitay said of her kids’ thoughts of the celebration. “They loved it. They all wrote her cards. … We decorated the table.”
The party décor, which included plenty of pink hearts, can be seen in the film through photos and video.
“Not a lot of people throw birthday parties for their dead mothers,” Hargitay says in the documentary, as footage plays of August carrying a heart-shaped cake to the table.
“But there was this sort of magic to it,” she adds. “It was around that time that I began to feel like I actually wanted to get to know her. Not as the sex symbol Jayne Mansfield, but just as Jayne. My mom, Jayne.”
Hargitay described the party on the podcast as “a really beautiful ceremony” that was “so joyful.”
“Even for them, it started to become a fun, beautiful thing,” she said of her kids.
The co-hosts asked Hargitay if her kids had previously inquired about Mansfield. Hargitay explained her younger children, Amaya and Andrew, whom she and Hermann adopted in 2011, were too young at the time of the party. She noted that she would talk to her older son, August, who was born to her and her husband in 2006, about it and also show him things about her.
“He also looks so much like her,” Hargitay said. “August looks exactly like her.”
More recently, August paid tribute to his late grandmother by wearing her signature stitched into the lapel of his suit at the Tribeca Festival premiere for the film.
Hargitay told TODAY.com the story behind the homage.
“My son was so sweet because I wanted to put a heart or maybe a — you know, we talked about possibly putting a ‘J’ on his lapel, and then all of a sudden I went (gasps), ‘Her signature was so beautiful,’ and it’s part of the film.”
Pink, glittering footage at the beginning of the documentary shows Mansfield writing her signature, “Jayne,” with a pink heart, both of which were featured on August’s suit.
Hargitay said she gave her tailor her mother’s signature, and he put it on the lapel.
She was so “blown away” by the result that she “just started weeping.”
“My son was so proud to wear it,” she said. “It was really extraordinary.”
On June 29, the anniversary of Mansfield’s death, Hargitay posted old photos of herself next to a young August beside her mother’s grave.
The documentary ends on a high note when Hermann surprises Hargitay by gifting her Mansfield’s piano, which he tracked down through the family of Engelbert Humperdinck, a previous owner of Mansfield’s “Pink Palace” home.
On the podcast, Hargitay said her children are taking piano lessons.
“To see them play on this piano …” she said.
As for herself, Hargitay told The New York Times last month: “That’s my next thing — I’m going to learn to play soon.”
“My Mom Jayne” is streaming now on Max.
