Mariska Hargitay Says Biological Dad Nelson Sardelli ‘Apologized’ to Her on a ‘Magical’ Father’s Day

Mariska Hargitay recently spent Father’s Day with her biological father, Nelson Sardelli — and they shared a powerful exchange.

On Thursday, July 17, the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star, 61, described her Father’s Day with Sardelli, 90, as “so magical,” during a Q&A at a screening for her documentary, My Mom Jayne, at the HamptonsFilm’s SummerDocs, according to People.

“He apologized and he said, ‘Thank you for forgiving me,'” she recalled. “And I said, ‘Thank you for making the choice that you made.'”

The Golden Globe Award winner — who shared the truth about her paternity with the world in her documentary — grew up thinking Mickey Hargitay, the man who raised her and was married to her mother, Jayne Mansfield, from 1958 to 1964, was her father.

However, at 25 years old, the truth came crashing down.

During her appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast on June 25, Mariska recounted how she learned Sardelli — a singer who once dated Mansfield — was her dad while she was at the home of Sabin Gay, who was “head of the Jayne Mansfield fan club.”

“He’s showing me all these photos, he’s showing me, whatever it is, dresses that she had that he collected, earrings that she wore, things from movies, from the movie set, props or whatever and then he says to me, ‘Do you want to see a picture of Nelson?'” she recounted. “And I just looked at him, and this jolt went through my body, and I said, ‘Who’s Nelson?’ and then I knew in one second.”

After piecing together that Sardelli was her father, Mariska told host Alex Cooper that she confronted Mickey with the truth, but he denied it: “He kept saying, ‘You look like my father, you look exactly like my father, you’re a Hargitay to the end.”

Mariska said she decided to tell Mickey that she believed him because she knew how much he loved her and didn’t want to cause him pain.

“We never spoke of it again, and then he used to say, even before he died, ‘Remember when you thought that crazy thing?’ and I’d go, ‘I know, wasn’t that nuts?'” she recalled on the podcast.

During the Q&A, Mariska explained that she had hidden the truth from the public because she wanted to “honor” Mickey, who passed away in 2006, per People. However, while creating My Mom Jayne, she realized that she “didn’t need to carry that.”

“I spent my life feeling unworthy, not wanted, not claimed, not good enough, abandoned,” Mariska admitted. “And then I realized, ‘Oh, no, sweetie, you were chosen six ways from Sunday.'”

“So it’s like everyone was right in the end,” she added, “but I grew up not knowing that.”