Mariska Hargitay turned My Mom Jayne documentary Emmy wins into a two-award night on Saturday in Los Angeles, taking both Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program. The result matters because it puts her personal film in the center of the 78th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards before the televised ceremony continues.
My Mom Jayne at the Emmys
Two Emmys went to My Mom Jayne at the Creative Arts ceremony, with Hargitay winning for the film itself and for her direction. My Mom Jayne beat John Candy: I Like Me, Marty, Life Is Short, Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, and Ocean with David Attenborough in the documentary special race, a field that shows how the category can reward both biography-driven work and broader profile documentaries.
Hargitay said, “My hero and friend Gloria Steinem recently said, ‘Please tell your own story,’” and added, “The most important thing we can do for each other is to know each other through stories.” She also said, “I got to know my mother through telling the story,” then called the win “a gift that’s indescribable.”
Gloria Steinem and Jayne Mansfield
My Mom Jayne is an HBO film about Hargitay’s late mother, Jayne Mansfield, and a mystery over Hargitay’s biological father. That personal frame gives the wins more weight than a standard documentary prize: the film is not just reporting on a subject, it is the subject reaching back through family history and making the project the argument.
Hargitay said it took her a while to realize the film was her story to tell, even though she had already made and directed it. She said she decided she could direct the film during the pandemic, which is the practical turning point behind the directing award rather than a simple celebrity vanity project.
Five directors, one trophy
Hargitay’s directing win came against Lawrence Kasdan, Judd Apatow, Michael Bonfiglio, Alexandria Stapelton, and Rebecca Miller. In a category with five other nominees, the award suggests voters responded to control of structure and point of view as much as subject matter.
She said, “I’m utterly overwhelmed,” and added, “I just want that invitation to go out, especially to women.” Backstage after the two wins, she said, “Dreaming is actually part of planning,” followed by, “It’s a year of firsts and a year of saying yes,” and “Not limiting myself or not being governed by fear.”
Sunday and Monday on NBC
The Creative Arts Emmys were the opening beat of the 78th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, with the show set to continue Sunday evening from the Peacock Theater downtown. The televised Primetime Emmys were scheduled to air Monday, September 14, on NBC and the Peacock streaming platform, and Hargitay is also entering the 28th season as the star of Law & Order: SVU.
After a two-Emmy opening, the clean read is that My Mom Jayne has already done what awards documentaries are supposed to do: convert a personal story into industry recognition before the main telecast even starts.
