Already have an account?
Get back to the

Ben McKenzie on Fatherhood: ‘It Is Wonderful and Constantly Challenging’

Ben McKenzie
Ben McKenzie attends the Tribeca TV Festival sneak peek of Gotham at Cinepolis Chelsea on September 23, 2017 in New York City. Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images

One proud father. Ben McKenzie got candid with Us Weekly about the joys and struggles of parenthood.

The Gotham star, 39, who welcomed his first child, a daughter, with costar and wife Morena Baccarin in March, is taking fatherhood in stride. “I had no idea what it would be but it is wonderful and constantly challenging and fantastic,” McKenzie told Us at the Tribeca TV Festival at Cinepolis Chelsea in New York City on Saturday, September 23.

Related: Celebrity Babies of 2017

And while he’s admittedly exhausted from daddy duties, he wouldn’t change it for the world. “Yes, [I’m tired,] but that’s alright!” he told Us.

Morena Baccarin and Ben McKenzie
Morena Baccarin and Ben McKenzie attend FOX 2016 Upfront Arrivals at Wollman Rink, Central Park in New York City. Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

Related: Hottest Couples Who Fell in Love on Set

The ultra private couple, who met on set of the Fox superhero series, don’t often share photos of their little one, Frances Laiz Setta Schenkkan, but Bacarrin, 38, did post a photo of the back of her head as she awed at a woman on stilts. “Woah. #mindblown,” she captioned the cute Instagram pic on June 18.

Woah. #mindblown?

A post shared by Morena Baccarin (@baccarin.morena) on

That was the same month the duo secretly married at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens in Brooklyn, New York.

“It’s beautiful, we had a great time,” the O.C. alum said of the nuptials’ setting. “We didn’t quite get the rose garden but we got a lot of beautiful flowers.”

Meanwhile, McKenzie is currently busy filming the current fourth season of the DC Comics adaptation.

Related: 10 Once-Great TV Shows That Went Downhill

“I love that we’re doing a superhero show without superheroes centered on, in a way an everyday hero,” he told Us of playing Gotham City homicide detective James Gorden. “He’s just a man who happens to have a certain moral fiber that’s being tested constantly so in order for him to do what he needs to do before there is a Batman, he has to sort of take on this unbelievable metaphorical armor in terms of his stoicism but it takes a toll on him so it’s a very human story.”

Gotham airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

In this article

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!