Doing it all! Kate Mara hasn’t let motherhood slow down her acting career since welcoming her and Jamie Bell’s daughter in May 2019.
“I find it quite easy to switch it on and off,” the actress, 37, told emmy magazine in Us Weekly’s exclusive first look at the issue hitting stands on Tuesday, October 20. “Thank God, because as a new mom when you have a baby on your boob screaming in the trailer, and then you’ve got to go pretend to be sexy, it’s kind of a complete nightmare.”
The New York native’s first day back at work was on the set of A Teacher, and she added that the experience “was also not” so bad because of her “little angel baby.”
Mara’s acting priorities first changed when she married Bell, 34, and became a stepmom to his son, Jack, 7, in 2017 — and that mindset has only increased with her baby girl’s arrival.
“Eventually she’s going to be able to look at the work I’ve done,” the American Horror Story alum explained. “And now more than ever, I want it to mean something and for there to be a point to it. Sometimes you do just have to work for money. Sometimes you’re lucky enough that you can make choices based on more than that.”
Mara was anxious to get to work on A Teacher, a limited series version of her 2013 movie of the same name. In fact, when the House of Cards alum developed cholestasis, a liver condition, late in her pregnancy, she was induced and considered this “great” for the project’s shooting schedule.
Director Hannah Fidell told emmy magazine that Mara showed herself to be “a true partner” in that moment. “I said, ‘You’re amazing, but who says that?!’” the Washington, D.C., native, 35, recalled. “I think some actors come to projects and they just get the title of executive producer. But she was on every development call.”
Mara and her Fantastic Four costar have yet to publicly share their daughter’s name, but in July 2019, Bell exclusively told Us Weekly about Jack’s “amazing” big brother role.
“He’s protective, incredibly protective,” the English actor told Us of his and ex-wife Evan Rachel Wood’s little one.
Mara’s younger sister, Rooney Mara, became a mom in September when she and fiancè Joaquin Phoenix welcomed their son, River.