‘We’re Sisters From Another Mother’: Jamie Lee Curtis and Mariska Hargitay on Their Deep Hollywood Bond and ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Finally Being Run by a Woman Afte

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Countless stars have appeared on the Actors on Actors stage, but few Hollywood dynasties have intersected like those of Mariska Hargitay and Jamie Lee Curtis. Hargitay is the child of Jayne Mansfield, the 1950s bombshell who perished in a car crash. Mansfield’s rich and complex legacy is the focus of Hargitay’s well-received documentary, “My Mom Jayne,” produced by HBO and competing for an Emmy this year. Even more remarkable is that Hargitay assembled the film while portraying the relentless detective Olivia Benson on NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” a role that has grown increasingly legendary over the series’ 27-season run. Curtis, meanwhile, is the Oscar-winning daughter of Hollywood icons Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. She has reinvented herself repeatedly, moving from scream queen (“Halloween”) to 1980s comedy star (“Trading Places”) to a meme-worthy mother figure (“Freaky Friday” and FX’s “The Bear”).

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It’s simple to picture them as longtime friends, meeting up on both coasts and swapping stories for decades about co-stars, executives, and their work. But these famous offspring only recently became “sisters,” as they call it. Variety was fortunate to document how and when their connection ignited, and what emerges when a trip down memory lane resembles the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Jamie Lee Curtis: No one knows this — you grew up in a pink house on Sunset Boulevard, once owned by Sonny and Cher and later bought by Tony Curtis. He married this very young woman [she indicates displeasure with a raised eyebrow]. He purchased that house, and [you and I] met. There’s a photo of us standing in the driveway. We never saw each other after that. You wonder, “Why don’t we know each other when we share so much family history?”

Mariska Hargitay: We were sisters from another mother or father.

Curtis: When did we have that initial phone call?

Hargitay: I was at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I had just begun filming my movie, “My Mom Jayne.” I was speaking with [actress] Amy Landecker, mentioning that you and I used to be neighbors but didn’t know each other. She connected us right away. I can’t recall if you called me or I called you.

Curtis: It doesn’t matter.

Hargitay: But it felt like a missing part of my life. That first call was so emotional, because when we have backgrounds like ours, we’re in such a unique and singular position that people simply can’t grasp it unless they’ve lived it. You’re one of the most deeply sensitive, empathetic, and compassionate people I’ve encountered. Your distinct perspective on my story was remarkable.

Curtis: You told me you were making a documentary and had returned to Los Angeles to go through [your mom’s] storage unit. But you didn’t reveal the secret you held for a long time. I imagine there were people close to you who knew about your birth father [entertainer Nelson Sardelli]. Once something becomes a sensational secret, it tends to get shared. You came to my house. I prepared a small lunch. I think I might have baked a little lemon cake for you.

Hargitay: You made a little pasta salad.

Curtis: [“My Mom Jayne”] is a beautiful film. For anyone unfamiliar, that’s how we met, and that’s where the connection lies. It’s deep, raw, and human, with nothing to do with show-off business, even though our entire lives have been in show-off business.

Hargitay: I had to separate you as an actor, because you were also just this sister I gained — one who understood my movie. I know it stirred up a lot for you. We both have these complicated histories.

But you texted me six months ago and said, “Your show has been on for 87 years — I can’t watch it all. Give me your top 10 episodes you’d want me to see, because I want to know you as an artist.” I asked you the same about “The Bear.” I watched three episodes, and [the first two] were so brilliant. What you did, the layers and the pain you conveyed. But then I saw the episode “Ice Chips” [where Curtis’ character, Donna, stays with her estranged daughter during labor]. I couldn’t even process it. And you do it in two takes…

Curtis: My favorite job ever was a sitcom I did years ago called “Anything but Love” with Richard Lewis. It was amazing. I’d never performed in front of a live audience. John Ritter was one of the show’s producers. I adored him. We were auditioning actors for the role of a rogue guy who kept coming on to me in a scene. Every actor who came in backed me up against a desk, and I had to push him off. After one guy left, John Ritter came over and whispered in my ear, “You have really funny legs.”

Then I got to do “True Lies.” My character, Helen, was a fish out of water. She’s a housewife who becomes a spy. It was about doing physical things you’re not supposed to do. I remembered John Ritter — freedom comes from fearlessness.

But you are the damn heartbeat of [“Law & Order: SVU”]. That whole machine is driven by you. At the core of the work is you as a humanitarian, you as an advocate for abused women. You also carry that outside of work; I carry it outside of work. It’s part of the other sisterhood of caring.

Women often aren’t in leadership roles. For the first time, you have a woman running [“SVU”]. How important was that for you?

Hargitay: It’s everything. Michele Fazekas, our current showrunner, is hilarious and talented. We also have a female directing producer named Brenna Malloy, who pushes me to new heights.

Curtis: [You and I] are two women over 60, both on shows with female showrunners and directing producers. I’m only on [“Scarpetta”] because Nicole Kidman said, “Jamie is on the show, right?” I was a producer. I just wanted to be a boss; I didn’t want to have to put on the gear.

Hargitay: You do wear some gear in “Scarpetta.” You’re showing the girls [she nods toward Curtis’ breasts].

Curtis: The girls were retired. It was over.

So you’re about to do your first play.

Hargitay: This is a dream come true for me, to play in a different sandbox. I’m very unlike Olivia Benson, but no one knows that except my friends. Being onstage has been a lifelong goal. [In my 20s], I became friends with the amazing [stage actress] Kathleen Chalfant. She said, “Don’t sell out and do TV.” An hour later I got “SVU.” So that was a tough decision. Getting this call from my agent with the offer for the play “Every Brilliant Thing,” I was pinching myself. Can you come?

Curtis: Of course I’m going to come.

‘We’re Sisters From Another Mother’: Jamie Lee Curtis and Mariska Hargitay on Their Deep Hollywood Bond and ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Finally Being Run by a Woman After 26 Years