Mariska Hargitay on Growing Up Without Mom Jayne Mansfield: ‘Hole in My Heart’ (Exclusive)

Mariska Hargitay hit the red carpet for the Tribeca Festival premiere of her new documentary “My Mom Jayne,” which marks her directorial debut and the first time she has delved into her mother Jayne Mansfield’s story and legacy.

“Extra” spoke with Mariska, who called the doc a “love letter” to her late mother and her whole family.

She said, “I think it’s a love letter to all of them. It’s a love letter to [my mom] and a love letter to my father, [late Mr. Universe] Mickey [Hargitay], and a love letter to my whole family because it’s about integration, and my whole family supported me in such a magnificent and spectacular and whole way, and I just feel profoundly lucky to have had this experience with all my family."

Mariska also talked about losing her mom when she was only 3 years old. She was in the car with her mom when Jayne, her husband, and her driver perished in a horrific car crash. Now, Mariska has no direct memories of her mother, and had only her mom's cheesecake photos and giggly interviews as reminders growing up.

Mansfield routinely put on a dumb-blonde act because it propelled her career, including affecting a sex-kitten voice that irked Mariska when she heard it.

Hargitay noted, “I was told that she was a different person, you know, behind that voice, and that’s who I wanted to get to know — and I did.”

As for how not having her mother influenced her own experience as a parent, Mariska shared, “As I say in the movie, I grew up with sort of a hole in my heart. I think any child that loses a parent, especially a mother at that age, it’s very hard to make sense of it and integrate and understand. But as a mother of three now, I understand so much more and I had a beautiful, beautiful stepmother, as you saw in the film, that was so loving and incredible.”