Mariska Hargitay is reflecting on how she got through some of the traumas of her painful childhood.

The Law & Order: SVU star was only three years old when in 1967, her mother Jayne Mansfield, then only 36 years old, died in a car crash in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The Olivia Benson actress, whose father was Mickey Hargitay, was in the car, a 1966 Buick Electra 225, when it crashed head-on at high speed to the back of a tractor trailer, instantly killing her mom along with her attorney Sam Brody and their driver Ronnie Harrison, who was 20 at the time. Mariska and her brothers Mickey Jr. and Zoltan were in the back of the car, and had minor injuries.

During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show on Wednesday, October 23, Mariska reflected about how turning 60 helped her overcome some of her childhood trauma.

Noting how “60 is the new 50,” she first shared: “I think as we age, we step into our power, our focus of what’s important narrows down, and we get time and space back. I think  that the gift that I have is clarity.”

Host Drew Barrymore then asked whether she thinks “it’s possible to get there at any younger point,” and Mariska explained: “For me — and you know, both of us had these very specific childhoods with pain and trauma that gets in our bodies — and for me, as a young person, I spent my time running from it.”

Image of Mariska Hargitay alongside a photo of her parents, Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay
Mariska’s dad passed away in 2006

Drew also faced a lot of trauma growing up, much of it which played out in the public eye, from being exposed and addicted to drugs as young as 12 years old, emancipating herself from her parents at 14, and being institutionalized for a year around the same time.

Mariska however then maintained: “The only way out is through, I mean the only way out is through,” and recalled: “For me I remember having a couple rough years where I had to really go in and face it, face the demons, face the monsters.”

Jayne Mansfield holding six-weeks old Mariska Hargitay, United States, March 1964.© Getty
Jayne with six-week-old Mariska in 1964

She continued: “I know you know, and then you think it’s a bottomless well of pain, you think that you’re never going to get out, but then you do.”

Actress Jayne Mansfield and family are pictured here as the blonde actress leaves Cedars of Lebanon Hospital with the newest addition to the family, baby Anthony. Left to right are Jayne Marie Mansfield, 15, Zoltan Hargitay, 5, Mickey Hargitay Jr., 6, unidentified hospital attendant, Jayne holding baby Anthony, and husband Matt Cimber with Mariska Hargitay, 1. Anthony is the first child by Cimber.© Getty
The actress has five siblings

Reflecting on turning 60 earlier this year, Mariska shared with People: “I’m proud of it. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been,” adding: “The age thing was never something I was scared of.”

Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann attend The Inaugural Gotham TV Awards at Cipriani 25 Broadway on June 04, 2024 in New York City.© Getty
She has been married to her husband Peter Hermann since 2004

She also marked earlier this year the 25th anniversary of Law & Order: SVU, and Olivia Benson becoming the longest-running character in a primetime drama in television history.

Also reflecting on that moment with People, she shared there’s two ways she sees the milestone: “One is I can’t believe it’s been 25 years, a quarter of a century! And the other is, I can’t see it any other way. I can’t imagine the show ending, and can’t imagine not going on this journey with my cast, my crew. I have so much to look forward to. And I’m still growing. I like that you can be so many things at one time.”