Kate Beckinsale’s ‘Modern Dream’ Come True
 Courtesy SELF |
The decision by Kate Beckinsale and Michael Sheen to part ways when their daughter Lily Mo, 9 ½, was just a toddler was almost certainly difficult, but the decision to put her needs first going forward was easy. Calling her blended brood — which has grown to include Kate’s husband Len Wiseman — a “modern dream come true,” the 35-year-old actress opens up about the family dynamic in the January issue of SELF magazine. For starters, Kate says, Lily doesn’t identify herself as someone who comes from a broken home.
“Last week, Lily was talking about a friend whose parents are divorced: ‘Oh it’s so sad!’ And I said ‘Do you never feel like you’re from divorced parents? Because you are, even though Michael and I weren’t technically married.’ And she goes, ‘No! Divorced parents wait in the car outside and everyone is mean to each other, and it’s not like that with us.”’
Not like that, indeed! Kate, Michael and Len all co-parent Lily as equals and often in conjunction with one another. What’s more, Michael is a frequent visitor to Kate and Len’s home — leading to more than one humorous exchange, according to Kate. “The thing you do mainly is try to focus on the good side of it and the funny side of it, which is Lily walking around the house going ‘Daddy!’ and several people saying ‘Yes?’” She adds,
“It’s kind of funny; ‘No, not you, the other one!’ Michael had a huge beard recently and I decided it would be fun if Lily got to shave it off. So we got Len’s clippers and shaved Michael. I’m sure that’s why Lily doesn’t feel like she has split parents. Your stepfather helping to shave your biological father isn’t something that necessarily happens in every household.”
Putting ego aside in order to “put Lily first” required all involved to “compromise on certain things” — and Kate feels that “everyone has done it in an incredibly gracious way.”
Click ‘more’ to read about how Lily helped shape Kate’s career.
Lily, herself, is a source of inspiration for Kate — who says she admires her daughter’s “youthful sense of possibility.” When Lily, an aspiring author, recently began to doubt her abilities she mused “if my writing doesn’t work out, I might try out for the Olympics.” While there was a point in Kate’s own career where she made films she’s not necessarily proud of, she says she doesn’t regret them. “The defining thing about my career was discovering in my mid-twenties that I was pregnant and completely unprepared,” she admits. “I’d been starting out with my Shakespeare and my Chekhov, but once I had Lily, it changed the choices I was able to make.”
“I was a single mother. I could only do jobs that didn’t mean I’d have to fully immerse myself, because that would’ve been really bad parenting.”
The film Van Helsing, in particular, is one which Kate singles out as having been made “for more practical than passionate reasons.” Of her thought process in accepting the role, she reveals “I was going, ‘Sh-t, I’ve totally got to make sure I can pay Lily’s school fees!’” Once Lily was established in elementary school, however, Kate felt free to pursue the roles she’d always dreamed of. “There came a moment when Lily was 6 ½, and I had the feeling of, ‘OK, she’s in school. She’s more independent. I really want to go back to what was more my thing.” Now, with awards buzz surrounding her role in Nothing But the Truth and a happy home life, Kate wouldn’t change a thing; She’s even contemplating writing a book.
“The whole juggling baby-acting thing has kept me quite busy, but now I’m in my little renaissance period. I’m starting to brew. I’m going to do it.”
Nothing But the Truth is in theaters now.
Source: SELF
- Posted on Dec 28, 08 at 9:00PM
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- 11 Comments
December 28th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
You know, Kate is just an amazing mother. All three of them are fantastic parents for putting their differences aside to raise Lily. I’m sure she’s growing up with three times the love in the Beckinsale-Wiseman/ Sheen house.
Bravo to them.
December 28th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Kate, her daughter, and her two dads! What a mature and responsible family they’ve built!
December 28th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I love that Lily has her mom and two dads, and the three co-parent her together. They all seem really happy.
December 28th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
I’m not the hugest fan of Kate as an actress, but I have such high regard for her as a person and as a mother. It’s obviously not just stories they tell to look good to press either, considering that Michael and Len did two Underworld movies together after Len and Kate got married. (Len directed the second but only wrote on the third film, if I’m not mistaken.) There’s clearly love and respect there, and that speaks volumes about them as people.
Plus, I kind of want to marry adorable, sweet, talented Michael, so it’s good to know what kind of situation I’ll be going into ahead of time.
December 29th, 2008 at 1:55 am
It seems like Kate and her family all get on well together – That’s so refreshing in today’s world. My parent’s own split was handled badly by both of them, and I’m pleased to see that other families are learning that there is a better way of handling family splits.
December 29th, 2008 at 7:16 am
I’m glad Kate, Michael and Len all get along so well. It’s not surprising that Lily doesn’t feel like she’s from a broken home. They all seem like a great fun team. Lily’s very lucky.
And the “Daddy!” part is very funny!
December 29th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Stories like this always make me feel better about kids whose parents are split in Hollywood. It’s hard enough to make that family situation work in “real” life, let alone under the microscope that celebs and their kids fall under. Some people could learn so much from family’s like this.
December 29th, 2008 at 11:03 am
I think she might have been misquoted,or its been taken out if context, as her comments about her becoming a mother in her mid-20’s makes it sound like she and Michael Sheen had split up when Lily was a baby (when she says she was a single mother). I don’t think that is correct, as I thought they were together until shortly before she met and married Len Wiseman. Other than that it is nice to see a positive story about step-parenting, andblended families (such a good term imho!).
December 29th, 2008 at 11:59 am
I think that she is just wonderful. It makes me so happy that they all work together for Lilly’s sake. My husbands parents are divorced and have been now for 17 years. Their divorce was ugly all those years ago and still is now. It warms my heart to hear that just because Kate and Michael’s relationship did not work that they are still civil with one another for their daughters sake.
December 29th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
What a lovely family. Lily is a lucky little girl. It’s nice to know that there are indeed people out there able to settle their problems without putting any of the burden on the kid. I remember when Kate was married a few years ago, she mentioned that Lily was up there with them during the ceremony, and they made it clear to everyone that Len wasn’t just marrying Kate, but Lily as well.
At an age when mother-daughter relationships can become so antagonistic, it’s so nice to see a pair like these two – Lily’s always all smiles with her mom, and Kate clearly thinks the sun rises and sets on her girl.
December 29th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I love how Lily described a divorce- so true! I wish either of my parents had been able to handle themselves as well as Lily’s seem to.