Mariska Hargitay

He had so much grief and so much pain and so much that he almost couldn't handle anymore.

And so I learned very young to be the joy bringer, to be fun girl, to be just every room I walked into, light it up and make it better.

And there came a big cost.

It's not only exhausting, but you betray yourself, and you sacrifice yourself, and you become a people pleaser, and you do everything for other people to keep them happy.

And there's a lot of good things to it, too.

But it's been a very beautiful journey of integration and unencumbering.

My nervous system is utterly and completely different.

And I just have so much more internal space.

for everything, for my family, for my children, for my creativity, for my acting, for my directing.

And I just have a piece that I never had before.

Making this film was one of the most liberating things that I've ever done because people said, oh, it's so personal.

I can't believe how vulnerable you are.

But our vulnerability is our greatest strength and our greatest connector.

And so in telling the story, I don't feel vulnerable.

I feel free, and I feel like there's an invisible strength.

with everyone because we all have a story and you never know what somebody else carries.

I was trying to reach out across that divide and say, who are you?

Who was the woman behind the pose?

Why did she make these decisions?

Who was the woman that made these choices and why?