Rose Byrne isn’t afraid to discuss the less-than-glamorous parts of motherhood — including and perhaps especially breastfeeding.
“Having a baby is like going to the moon, and nobody ever tells you that,” Bryne, 46, told The Sunday Times in an interview published on Saturday, January 31.
“I had a really hard time breastfeeding and found it very challenging, even more challenging than delivery,” the actress continued. “And I said to a good girlfriend, Carla Gallo, who I do Platonic with, ‘Mate, why didn’t you tell me how hard it was?’ And she was like, ‘I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t want to scare you.’ I was like, ‘Carla! Why didn’t you tell me?’”
Byrne added, “But it’s hard for women to talk about it. There’s a lot of shame. You don’t want to feel like you don’t love your child, but there is a grief around becoming a mother, because you lose part of yourself that you will never, ever, ever, ever, ever get back. And that’s OK. It’s OK to grieve that — in fact, we should. Because it’s a before and an after.”
Amanda Seyfried, Khloe Kardashian and More Share Breast-Feeding Struggles
The Bridesmaids star shares two sons, Rocco, 10, and Rafael, 8, with her partner and fellow actor, Bobby Cannavale. Now, as she is receiving her well-deserved flowers — and an Oscar nomination — for her recent portrayal of an overwhelmed mom in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
“It was a gift,” Byrne told The Radio National Hour on Wednesday, January 28, of her role as Linda, a mom and therapist who slowly loses her grip on reality as she tries to deal with a sick daughter, an absent husband and a hole in her roof.
“As an actress, I got to just try everything,” she continued. “I got physically stretched, emotionally, you know, technically. It changed me. It’s been the creative highlight of my career, to be honest. I just didn’t want to mess it up.”
She continued of how the role impacted her as a mom, “I’m a perfect parent — I don’t make mistakes, my children are perfect. No, of course you have, there’s like — there’s a before and after. There’s a before and after motherhood, and that’s what I was really so obsessed with when we were tackling this character. Who was she before? Who was she before and why is she reacting like this, because everyone is going to respond differently to a crisis. Everyone is going to respond differently, and who was she before and what is the essence of that person and how can I capture that because it’s not given to us. The film is ahead of the audience.”
See Photos of Celebrity Moms Pumping Breast Milk
Byrne says that, like her character, she has felt the shame that many parents — particularly mothers — feel when they’re trying to find a so-called “balance” in parenting, work and life.
“Linda also can’t really see her child, which can happen in parenting,” Byrne told The Sunday Times. “Because it is relentless, because it is unending, [your children] lose their shape a little bit. And you have to remind yourself, wow, this is a tiny little person. That’s totally an experience I’ve had as a parent and there is shame you feel around that.”
