Mariska Hargitay makes rare comments about the 'trauma' of losing mother Jayne Mansfield at age three

Mariska Hargitay made rare comments about the trauma of losing her mother, Hollywood bombshell Jayne Mansfield, at the age of three.

'I lost my mother when I was 3 years old, and I grew up in a house of people dealing with the tragedy in their own way,' the actress, 60, shared at the Hope for Depression Research Foundation's 18th Annual HOPE Luncheon on Tuesday, as per Us Weekly .

'Because there was so much grief, there wasn't room to prioritize anyone. We didn't have the tools that we have now to metabolize and understand trauma,' the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star added.

Mansfield, an actress and Playboy Playmate, tragically died in a car crash in 1967 at the age of 34. Hargitay and two of her siblings were passengers in the vehicle.

Hargitay accepted the 2024 Hope Award for Depression Advocacy at the event, hosted at The Plaza Hotel in NYC .

This year's luncheon centered on trauma and recovery, a topic the actress explored in depth during her speech, as she delved into 'various traumas' she's experienced over the years, and how she overcame them.

She explained that it wasn't until 'much later in life' that she developed the tools to confront her past traumas.

'I also suffered sexual trauma in my 30s, it wasn't until much later that I found the language to acknowledge it for what it was,' the star shared.

She said the Joyful Heart Foundation, which she founded 20 years ago was 'part of my response to my own experience.'

Earlier this year, Hargitay — who shares three children with husband Peter Hermann, 57 — revealed she was raped by a friend when she was in her 30s.

'I built a whole foundation that responded to trauma and survivors the way that I wanted to be responded to. I had the good fortune to find extraordinary therapists who introduced me to many different healing modalities.'

Hargitay emphasized the importance of addressing how 'trauma lives in the body' in order to heal, adding, 'These modalities give me my life back.'

Hargitay expressed deep gratitude for those 'who mirrored my trauma back to me, who helped me integrate different parts of ourselves and metabolize my own trauma.'

'Complex trauma that so many of us carry. We all have a story. We all are carrying so much internally that other people can't see.'

She concluded her speech with a positive message for those struggling: 'There is hope.'

Mansfield was born Vera Jayne Palmer in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1933.

She studied acting at university and won a series of quirkily named beauty contests including Gas Station Queen, Miss Lobster and Miss Fire Prevention Week.

Her voluptuous hourglass figure cost her roles in the conservative climate of 1950s Hollywood but won her a nude shoot with Playboy in 1955.

The following year, Mansfield signed with Twentieth Century Fox, whose executives hoped she could become the new Marilyn Monroe.

She was named one of the most promising newcomers at the 1957 Golden Globe Awards for her performances in films such as The Girl Can't Help It.

But by the early 1960s, her career had fizzled out. Despite gaining some edge as one of the first major Hollywood actresses to appear nude in a film – Promises! Promises! in 1963 – Mansfield lost her star.

Mansfield's rather rocky private life – three marriages that all ended in divorce, along with allegations of numerous affairs – was also a major talking point during her time in the public eye.

In 1966, she also began a friendship with Anton LaVey, a Satanist trying to attract new members to his Church of Satan. A popular legend that might have been spread by LaVey himself claimed that he portrayed the devil who rapes Mia Farrow's character in the 1968 film Rosemary's Baby.

After they connected in San Francisco, the pair developed a friendship – that some claim was sexual in nature – and continued to meet frequently to perform rituals until Mansfield's death.

After Mansfield died LaVey conducted a Satanic memorial service for her at his Black House in San Francisco.

Mansfield had a total of five children. Her second husband, Mickey Hargitay, was a Hungarian-American bodybuilder and actor.

Aside from Mariska, she was also mom to Jayne (born 1950), Mickey (born 1958), Zoltan (born 1960), and Tony (born 1965).

Mansfield's life was suddenly cut short while she was in a Buick car traveling from Biloxi, Mississippi to New Orleans along with her lawyer and then-boyfriend Samuel S. Brody, driver Ronnie Harrison, and three of her children.

Harrison crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer that was obscured by a cloud of insecticide dust from the truck hauling it.

Mariska, who was fast asleep in the backseat, survived. Her brothers, eight-year-old Mickey Jr. and six-year-old Zoltan, also survived.

Last year Mariska penned an emotional tribute to her mom on Instagram, on what would have been her 90th birthday.

'Happy birthday Mama. We live to love you more each day,' wrote the acclaimed star in her caption.

Hargitay followed into her famous mother's footsteps as an actress. She's been playing Detective Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since 1999. The show is one of the longest-running primetime dramas on American television.

In 2013, Hargitay and her mother were united on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame when their stars placed stars were placed side by side.