Mariska Hargitay delivered an emotional acceptance speech while receiving one of two Creative Arts Emmy Awards for her directorial debut My Mom Jayne, referencing the late Gloria Steinem.
“I’m utterly overwhelmed, as you can imagine. I just wanted to share with you that it took me a while … to realize that this was my story to tell. I didn’t think that I could direct it and so I just want to add something to Gloria’s pointer and that is about telling your own story,” Hargitay, 62, said on Sunday, September 6, inside Los Angeles’ Peacock Theatre.
Steinem, a feminist icon and political activist, died at age 92 in her New York City home on Wednesday, September 2. Her final interview for the Famous Last Words documentary series, filmed in February 2025 and released after her death, urged people to “please tell your own story,” as it’s “the most important thing we can do for each other.”
Hargitay, who created her 2025 documentary about her late mother, Jayne Mansfield, reiterated Steinem’s stance on Sunday. “I just want that invitation to go out, especially to women. I’m so excited to explore and discover and to innovate new ways of hearing stories from half of the world’s population because we don’t hear from you nearly enough,” she said on stage. “I can’t wait to get to know you. Thank you, this is meaningful.”
The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star lost her mom, a fellow actress and 1960s sex symbol, in a 1967 car crash when Hargitay was 3 years old. Hargitay’s film features personal home videos and interviews with her mom’s five children. (Mansfield welcomed Jayne Marie in 1950 with Paul Mansfield, Miklós in 1958 and Zoltán in 1960 with Mickey Hargitay, Tony in 1965 with Matt Cimber and Mariska in 1964. Mariska was raised by Mickey before learning the identity of her biological father, Nelson Sardelli, who had a brief fling with Jayne during a break in her relationship with Mickey.)
Gloria Steinem Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Foundation for Women
Hargitay said during her June 25 appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that filming the documentary shone a light on the similarities she shared with her late mom. “During the making of this film and on this journey, I’ve had so many moments where I got to see our similarity, or what I came from, and what I admire and revere and respect are the things about her that I’m in awe of and the things about her that are so similar to how I am,” Mariska told host Alex Cooper. “So, in that way, it has been this gift. It’s so magnificent.”
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