Celebrities may live slightly (or very!) different lives than the average person, but motherhood is one experience that connects us all. No matter what they do for a job, mothers are still mothers, and becoming a mother has an immense impact on every one of us. It reveals traits and abilities we didn’t even know we have.
Something changes immediately when we create a new life. It’s not solely about us anymore. Now, actual people are depending on us for everything, including the lofty responsibility of molding them into kind and responsible adults in addition to the day-to-day details. No matter who we are, becoming a mother makes us acutely aware that we have been entrusted with a mission greater than ourselves.
Take actor Bradley Cooper, for example. Bradley is by no means the only famous person to have spoken publicly about how becoming a dad has changed them for the better. He recently said that becoming a father helped him get over his drug addiction and mental health issues. As you can see, parenting forces us to make better and healthier lifestyle decisions overall.
Below are 15 celebrity stories of how parenting has changed them.
#1 Adele
Source: Vogue via Entertainment Tonight/Instagram
Singer Adele was open and honest about how parenting has changed her and how sometimes we miss the person we were before having children. “There are undoubtedly some aspects of myself that I will never be able to regain. The freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want, is what it’s all about. Leaving without having to put anyone else first, “In 2021, she spoke to The Face. At the same time, my son is obviously my top priority in life and at work and has been since I had Angelo.
#2 Salma Hayek
Source: @salmahayek
Salma Hayek, an Eternals co-star with Angelina Jolie, experienced similar changes after having a child. She has stated that becoming a mother taught her both that and the fact that she was tough. “You will never be as vulnerable as you are when you have a child. Because of this, you have to be stronger than you have ever been.”
#3 George Clooney
Source: Photo by Getty Images
George Clooney gained notoriety for years as an actor but also for being outspoken about his desire to avoid further marriage and procreation. All bets were off when he met Amal, his future wife. George has said that becoming a father has taught him to embrace the unexpected, and the two are the parents of twins. He claimed that becoming a father had greatly increased his flexibility. “Don’t make plans. You always have to just enjoy the ride,” he said.
#4 Katy Perry
Source: katyperry/Instagram
Before having her daughter Daisy, Katy Perry believed she was a loving person, but after Daisy was born, she developed a completely different outlook. “I never truly knew about unconditional love. Obviously, my mother has that for me, but I didn’t really experience it in the first person until I had my child — and that was just a whole other level,” she told Variety in 2021.
Katy also realized something that many of us experience as mothers: the needs of another person take precedence once you become a mother. “It’s just the biggest life change ever,” she said. “You’re responsible for someone’s well-being who can’t even hold their head up. It’s a real shift, and you become not No. 1 on the call sheet.”
#5 Tom Brady
Source: @tombrady
Sometimes, having children brings to light the true influence that one’s own parents had on their life. Being a father has increased Tom Brady‘s gratitude for his own father, who is an NFL star. In his ESPN+ documentary series Man in the Arena, he broke down in tears while discussing his fatherhood experiences. “I’m a dad to some amazing children. When I think about being a dad, I think of him because of what my dad meant to me,” he said. “I know I’m not as good a dad to my kids as my dad’s been to me. I use them as my example of how to keep a family together and to care, to support, and how to love.”
#6 Ben Affleck
Source: Photo by Matt Baron/REX/Shutterstock
Ben Affleck has been a very career-driven person, earning Oscars for his work as an actor, writer, and director. However, it seems that having children has altered his list of priorities. He asserts that his priority is being a father. He stated to Access Hollywood in 2020, “My life right now is focused on, for sure, being a dad, and that’s the most important thing to me.
#7 Jennifer Lopez
Source: @jlo
If Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck get married (assuming they make it all the way down the aisle this time! ), she will become the stepmother of twins. Motherhood, according to Jennifer, “completely changed” her life. “It made me not only reflect on the person I wanted to be for them, but it also helped me appreciate all the gifts my own mother gave me,” she told People.
#8 Prince William
Source: Splash News
Even the royals, who are known for maintaining a stiff upper lip, experience increased emotion after becoming parents. In a 2016 ITV documentary, father-of-three Prince William admitted, “I never used to get too wound up or worried about things, but now the smallest little things, you well up a little more, you get affected by the sort of things that happen around the world or whatever a lot more, I think, as a father.
#9 Emily Blunt
Source: The Girl on the Train/Universal Pictures
The actress Emily Blunt‘s preference for certain movie roles has changed since becoming a mother. She has declined nude roles and stated that it would be difficult for her to play violent or racist characters now that she has two daughters, Hazel and Violet.
#10 Angelina Jolie
Source: Access/YouTube
During the promotion of her 2021 movie Eternals, Angelina Jolie discussed the epiphany she experienced with her oldest son, Maddox, at a young age. “I became a mother in my 20s. Something happened to Mad when he was little; it was an injury, and I was terrified, and I heard myself say, ‘It’s gonna be fine, it’s gonna be OK.’ And I realized I had become the person who was always going to make everything OK, not the person who worries, who’s upset that I have spent my whole life being in that darker space. That happens in a minute.”
#11 Prince Harry
Source: Getty Images
One of the main motivators for Prince Harry to commit to “breaking the cycle” of the parts of his family history that he feels were toxic was becoming a father. He explains in his documentary The Me You Can’t See: “My father, Prince Charles, used to say to both William and me, ‘Well, it was like that for me, so it’s going to be like that for you.’ That doesn’t make sense. Just because you suffered, that doesn’t mean your kids have to suffer. In fact, quite the opposite. If you suffered, do everything you can to make sure that whatever negative experiences that you had, that you can make it right for your kids.”
#12 Kamala Harris
Source: Getty Images
There are many different paths to parenthood, and the reality is that having a stepparent can also completely change your life. Vice President Kamala Harris, also known as “Momala” to her two stepchildren, pens an emotional essay for Elle about how having Ella and Cole Emhoff in her life has made her life richer and more fulfilling. “I can say one thing with certainty: My heart wouldn’t be whole, nor my life full, without them.”
#13 Beyoncé
Source: Getty Images
Many women’s journeys to motherhood include the physical changes of pregnancy and the extraordinary, everyday miracle of childbirth. Nobody ever forgets what it’s like to give birth or how it can showcase tremendous physical and emotional fortitude. Beyoncé called welcoming her eldest daughter Blue Ivy “the best day” of her life in an interview with Vogue. She said: “Right now, after giving birth, I really understand the power of my body. I just feel my body means something completely different. I feel a lot more confident about it.”
#14 Matt Damon
Source: Getty Images
With his wife of 17 years, Luciana, Matt Damon is a proud father of four daughters, and having children has fundamentally altered the way he views women. “I never expected to be surrounded by girls. I’m learning so much, not the least of which is how much smarter girls are.” In 2012, he stated on the Today show, “I operated under the assumption that us guys had a chance, but I realized when I was completely wrapped around my 2-year-old’s finger, and she knew it. If they can do that to us at 2 years old, when they’re fully grown we really don’t stand a chance.”
#15 Kim Kardashian
Source: @kimkardashian
The mother of four Kim Kardashian has acknowledged that becoming a parent changed her on a soul level, even though she may be best known for her outward beauty. In 2018, she penned on Instagram, “You learn so much about yourself from being a parent, and you care more about the world you are raising your kids in.” Her increased involvement in efforts to reform the criminal justice system was partly sparked by that change, which is far more motivating to us than any of her selfies.
