Mariska Hargitay is warming up to host the televised Primetime Emmy Awards in the best way imaginable – by winning two Emmys for her documentary My Mom Jayne.
The HBO film in which Hargitay explores the life and career of her late mother, the actress Jayne Mansfield, as well as a mystery over Mariska’s biological father, won Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. Hargitay also claimed the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program.
The honors came as the 78th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards kicked off Saturday night in Los Angeles with what were formerly called the Creative Arts Emmys. The show will continue Sunday evening from the Peacock Theater downtown, leading up to the televised Primetime Emmys on Monday, September 14 (airing on NBC and the Peacock streaming platform).
Accepting the award for Documentary or Nonfiction Special, Hargitay acknowledged the feminist icon Gloria Steinem, who died Wednesday at the age of 92.
“My hero and friend Gloria Steinem recently said, ‘Please tell your own story,’” Hargitay shared. “The most important thing we can do for each other is to know each other through stories. I got to know my mother through telling the story. It’s a gift that’s indescribable.”
A young Mariska Hargitay with her mother, Jayne Mansfield.
Courtesy of HBO
Accepting the trophy for directing, Hargitay commented, “I’m utterly overwhelmed. I just wanted to share with you that it took me a while when I decided to make this film during the pandemic. It took me a while to realize that this was my story to tell. I could direct it.”
And she alluded again to Steinem’s counsel to women about “telling your own story,” saying, “I just want that invitation to go out, especially to women. I’m so excited to explore and discover and innovate new ways of telling stories from half of the earth’s population because we don’t hear from you enough. I can’t wait to get to know you.”
It’s been an extraordinary year-plus for Hargitay, who is entering the 28th season as the star of Law & Order: SVU. In addition to premiering My Mom Jayne, she made her Broadway debut in Every Brilliant Thing, and then agreed to take on the challenge of hosting the Primetime Emmy Awards.
“Dreaming is actually part of planning,” Hargitay said backstage at the Emmys after her two wins. “I’m at a place in my life where I just say yes, I said yes to Broadway, and I said yes to hosting the Emmys. When they called me, they thought it was a joke. It’s a year of firsts and a year of saying yes. Not limiting myself or not being governed by fear. What if it all works out? That’s the process of art. I’m in that place right now, I’ll figure it out. I’m really happy right now.”
In the Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special category, My Mom Jayne triumphed over John Candy: I Like Me; Marty, Life Is Short; Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, and Ocean with David Attenborough (the latter film won Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program and Outstanding Sound Editing For A Nonfiction Or Reality Program).
In the documentary directing category, Hargitay was up against Lawrence Kasdan of Marty, Life Is Short; Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio of Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!; Alexandria Stapelton for Sean Combs: The Reckoning, and Rebecca Miller for Mr. Scorsese.
‘Mr. Scorsese’ director Rebecca with Martin Scorsese
Courtesy of Apple TV
Miller, however, isn’t going home empty-handed. Her five-part docuseries about legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese won the marquee category of Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jodie Foster, screenwriters Paul Schrader and Nicholas Pileggi, Spike Lee, and Daniel Day-Lewis (Miller’s husband) are among the luminaries who appear in the series.
Scorsese himself sat down for intimate interviews in which he addressed his career highs and some early lows, his complicated romantic life, and his upbringing as an asthmatic child in New York City.
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