Mariska Hargitay Reveals Biological Dad Nelson Sardelli Apologized to Her on Father’s Day

This past Father’s Day was one of deep emotional resonance for actress and filmmaker Mariska Hargitay, as the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star opened up about spending the holiday with her biological father, Nelson Sardelli.

At a screening of her documentary My Mom Jayne during the HamptonsFilm SummerDocs series on Thursday, July 17, the multi-hyphenate revealed during the Q&A that she spent her first Father’s Day with Sardelli.

“It was so magical,” she said to the audience. “He apologized and he said, ‘Thank you for forgiving me.’ And I said, ‘Thank you for making the choice that you made.'”

“So it’s like everyone was right in the end, but I grew up not knowing that,” she added.

Hargitay made her directorial debut with the HBO documentary, in which she revealed that at age 25, she learned that the man she believed was her father and who raised her, Mickey Hargitay, was not her biological father, but former Las Vegas entertainer Sardelli. It was a secret that Hargitay kept for half her life.

During the Q&A for the documentary, Mariska said she kept the secret of her true parentage as a way to honor Mickey, the man who raised her, who passed away in 2006. However, she shared that while making the deeply personal film, she realized she no longer needed to carry the burden of that secret.

“So many people carry things that they don’t need to,” she said to the audience. “I think the only way out is through.”

Related

Why to Watch Mariska Hargitay's Documentary 'My Mom Jayne'

My Mom Jayne explores the complicated life and loves of iconic actress Jayne Mansfield, Hargitay’s mother. The doc dives deep to create a comprehensive narrative about the actress, whose tumultuous life ended in 1967 at age 34 after a car crash that also killed her driver and her abusive boyfriend. Three-year-old Mariska, who was in the car, was injured along with her two older half-brothers as they sat in the backseat. At the time, Mansfield had five children with three husbands and Sardelli.

In the end, Hargitay said the journey to make the film, though brutal at times, eventually took her to places of great joy.

“There was so much beauty in leaning into the dark edges, leaning into the tough and rough edges,” she stated. “I didn’t know what I was going to find on the other side.”

My Mom Jayne, Now Streaming, HBO Max