Telling it like it is! Blake Lively opened up about motherhood and her career in a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, and chose not to sugarcoat the experience of welcoming and raising her first child, daughter James, 4 months.
“Having a baby is just living in the constant unexpected,” the Age of Adaline star, 27, explained. “You never know when you’re gonna get crapped on or when you’re gonna get a big smile or when that smile immediately turns into hysterics.”
“It might be like living with a drug addict,” she added. “But you have a baby and you think, ‘I can’t imagine ever not having a baby,’ because they grow up so quickly. I’d be an 80-year-old woman with a baby if I could.”
Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds had their first child this past December and were notably private about the baby’s arrival. Reynolds, 38, didn’t confirm the name of the couple’s baby girl until just last month, and the public has yet to see a photo of the little one.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Lively made a rare appearance with her daughter for the interview, breastfeeding the tiny tot as she spoke. When the interviewer agreed to omit a physical description of the child, the star joked, “Thanks for that. Please don’t describe my areolas, either.”
Mrs. Reynolds, who wed her love in 2012, spoke fondly of having a child and voiced her desire for more kids, telling LAT, “It’s addictive.” One thing she is less confident about, however, is the skill she is famous for. Lively reflected on her acting career, and acknowledged the negative reviews she has faced.
“You’re part of this machine — this pop culture phenomenon — but as an actor, the quality of your work is definitely compromised because of that,” said Lively, who looked back on her years playing New York princess Serena van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl. “When I finished the last season, I didn’t feel good at it anymore. I didn’t feel stimulated. It had become muscle memory, but not good muscle memory — like bad-habit muscle memory.”
Now getting back into her acting career with the upcoming Age of Adaline, the star has also been spending time working on her lifestyle website Preserve. Lively is more than tuned-in to the negative reactions the brand inspired, telling LAT, “You feel like you’re in high school and being bullied.”
Bullies or not, there is a lot more preserving in Lively’s future.
“I’m a lot better at this than I am at acting,” the Green Lantern actress said of her brand. “I always feel like I’m faking it when I’m acting. I do the best I can do to tell the story in the best way, but I always feel really lucky when I get a job. I feel confident when I’m cooking or decorating. It’s something I control beginning, middle and end. That ownership feels good.”
