Mariska Hargitay had her identity rocked when she discovered Mickey Hargitay wasn't her biological father when she was 25.
The Law & Order: SVU star was raised by the late actor, but her biological father is Italian singer Nelson Sardelli, who had a brief relationship with her late mom, Jayne Mansfield.
Family secrets
The family secret became publicly known recently, and it features in her directorial feature film debut, My Mom Jayne.
On Wednesday, Mariska opened up about the moment she first confronted Mickey about the bombshell revelation during an appearance on Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast.
Mariska confessed she was "hysterically crying" when she went to see Mickey. "He was like, 'What are you talking about? Are you crazy? That's so not true,'" she added.
While she may not share his blood, Mariska recalled that Mickey told her she is a "Hargitay to the end".
"The irony is that I'm more like my dad than anyone in our whole family. I am mini-Mickey, so it was just a very extraordinarily painful moment," she recalled.
"I say that this is the moment that I became an adult and it's so visceral for me because I was in so much pain. I was so overwhelmed."
Mariska told Alex that she discovered that Nelson is her biological dad when she visited someone who collected her mom's memorabilia, and it made her feel like her "identity was just smashed".
However, during her confrontation with Mickey, she said she could tell how painful the conversation was for him and decided to drop the subject and pretend to believe him when he said he was her father.
"It doesn't matter what I feel, I love him… and we're done here, we're done here," she said. "I pretended that I believed him, and we never spoke of it again."
The actress has since formed a relationship with Nelson and his children, but she will always see herself as "Mickey's daughter".
"I grew up where I was supposed to, and I do know that everyone made the best choice for me," she told Vanity Fair in May when she first revealed the news. "I'm Mickey Hargitay's daughter—that is not a lie."
In honor of Father's Day on Sunday, June 15, Mariska took to Instagram and shared a tribute to Mickey, who passed away in 2006, almost 20 years after Mariska learned he wasn't her father.
She shared three throwback photos with Mickey, one of her as a child, another of them at her 2004 wedding to husband Peter Hermann, and a third of the two at the Gracie Allen Awards Gala the same year.
"Happy Father's Day to my first hero, my cheerleader, and the man who taught me love, strength, gentleness, commitment and devotion," Mariska wrote in her caption.
She continued: "Mickey Hargitay wasn't just Mr. Universe — he was my universe. Thank you, Dad, for your love. Your strongest muscle was your heart. I miss you every day. I carry you with me. ALWAYS and FOREVER."