Mariska Hargitay recalls being 'so angry' after famous father 'denied' not being her biological father - Yahoo

LEAVE A COMMENTShare this: Mariska Hargitay is opening up about forgiving her dad — when she discovered he wasn't her biological father after all. The Law & Order: SVU actress is one of five children late Hollywood icon Jayne Mansfield had before her death in 1967, when her daughter was three years old, and in the car crash that killed her mother. Up until she was in her twenties, Mariska believed Jayne's husband Mickey Hargitay was her father, and it wasn't until the release of her directorial debut, a documentary about her mom titled My Mom Jayne released in 2025, that she revealed it was in fact Las Vegas entertainer Nelson Sardelli. Speaking on the Hoda Kotb podcast Making Space, Mariska recalled learning Nelson was her biological father — she suspected it after a fan of her mother's showed her a photo of him — and confessed: "I was so angry and felt betrayed." "I confronted my dad and he denied it," she continued, remembering her repeatedly questioning him on why he never told her.  "He goes, 'What are you talking about?! You look exactly like my father. You are my daughter. You are my daughter,'" she said. "And it was so beautiful, now," Mariska added, explaining: "Because I understand. He was also in so much pain. That was the day I became an adult. Because I loved him so much, that I said, 'We're good.'" "We don't need to talk about it anymore, because I felt like he was in more pain than I was," she recalled thinking. "But also, I was his daughter, and that's how he saw it, and that was his truth."