James Tupper: Atlas Is ‘Like Having an Unreasonable Employer’

Sara Jaye Weiss/Startraks

Taking a break from daddy duty, actor James Tupper joked that parenting his 9-week-old son, Atlas, with Anne Heche has been exhausting.

“It’s a bit like having an unreasonable employer,” he told PEOPLE. “He doesn’t give breaks.” However, James admits that as babies go, Atlas is very well-behaved. “I always imagine babies crying,” he says. “He doesn’t really. He’s very sweet. He’s in a warm bath of love and attention.”

From the sounds of it, Atlas will soon be living up to his name: NBC announced that it’s ordering more episodes of Tupper’s pilot Mercy, a medical dramedy (also starring Taylor Schilling, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Jamie Lee Kirchner), which will film in New York.

“He will be a bicoastal baby,” says James, who adds that the double blessing of a blossoming family and a new TV series “is like being awake in a dream.”

So, how does Anne feel about her partner going bicoastal? “She’s taking it a day at a time,” he says.

In the meantime, she’s got a full – and musical – home. James, who plays the guitar, surprised Anne on Mother’s Day. “I bought Anne an upright piano, and some lessons,” the actor says. “Her dad was a piano player. She plays, and I got her some lessons.”

Source: PEOPLE

– Lisa Ingrassia