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Mariska Hargitay is a beloved actress who will endlessly recognized for taking part in a signature position, on this case Law and Order: SVU’s tough-as-nails detective Olivia Benson. The character has been a trailblazer with regards to feminine characters on tv. Benson is robust, impartial, clever, and multifaceted, setting a brand new customary for the way girls are depicted on the small display. Hargitay is happy with the work she’s performed on the present, and as time has gone on, she has been in a position to see elements of her well-known late mom, Jayne Mansfield, in her iconic procedural character.
In a current interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hargitay opened up about her new HBO documentary titled My Mother Jayne, which hit the 2025 TV schedule in June and is avialable to stream with a Max subscription. The challenge, which she directed, examines Mansfield’s life as each an actress and intercourse image earlier than she handed away tragically at 34, and it additionally delves into Hargitay’s relationship to her mom’s legacy.
Now, I am unable to think about anybody would have a look at L&O‘s Olivia Benson and instantly begin making direct comparisons to a Golden Age starlet like Mansfield, however Hargitay has put plenty of thought into that over time. She truly does see some similarities between her mother and her franchise character, telling EW that they share a key trait:
Her compassion. I do know that [my mom] was a deeply, deeply type, compassionate, and empathetic, loving particular person. However Olivia is fearless and positively not afraid of confrontation. She makes up her personal guidelines and lives by a distinct code.
Although Benson is fearless and has a tricky exterior, followers are drawn to her due to her timeless compassion for the victims within the present. Benson will combat to the tip to verify victims get justice, and perpetrators are punished to the complete extent of the regulation. Whereas Jayne Mansfield was removed from a police detective, she was extremely loving and compassionate in direction of her daughter and other people round her, as Hargitay recounts. That is extremely candy, and I like that Hargitay is reclaiming her mom’s legacy all these years later.
Nonetheless, Hargitay was eager to notice the variations between Benson and the general public picture of her mom. With Olivia Benson, the Emmy winner was in a position to discover power in womanhood, and an uncompromising perspective in direction of injustice. She famous her mom didn’t precisely have that chance because of the restrictive nature of the time interval, and her “bombshell” popularity that she was sequestered to. She believes these limitations her mom skilled made her the way in which she is, and was probably one of many causes she was drawn to Benson as a personality. She stated:
That is why the character of Olivia Benson, I make my very own guidelines. No person tells me what to do. Olivia and I collectively are sturdy and assume issues via otherwise versus accepting the constraints which can be bestowed on us — or that the patriarchy needs to placed on us. The means my mom was handled actually knowledgeable how I made a decision to undergo the world.
Clearly, Mansfield had a significant affect on Hargitay and the way she approaches her iconic tv position. Even when she didn’t realize it at first, Hargitay has realized how deeply she’s been impacted by how she’s interpreted her mom’s popular culture standing as a determine within the media. Whether or not she is subverting it or inspecting it, Mansfield’s legacy has turn out to be a significant affect on Hargitay’s personal method to stardom as a “feminine powerhouse”, and the way she sees her character Olivia Benson.
You may see Mariska Hargitay’s documentary by streaming My Mother Jayne airing on HBO or streaming on HBO Max. Followers of the actress can even see her proceed her position as Olivia Benson on Law and Order: SVU, which is streaming now with a Peacock subscription.