Claire Danes: We need to stop romanticizing motherhood

Claire Danes has been a mother for nearly two years and she is opening up about the life-changing experience, but admits it hasn’t all been easy.

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Danes talked with Harper’s Bazaar U.K. about her son, Cyrus, who was born in December 2012, and admitted that it has been a challenging experience.

“Being a mum is incredibly challenging, but we still feel a pressure to talk about it in very romantic terms. And it’s not just that,” Danes explained to the magazine. “We all have that resentment at times and anxiety about being trapped by the role, that responsibility. And then chemically it can run riot. And there’s no ‘off’ button. That was the hardest adjustment. You always feel beholden to somebody. And for so long they’re like koala bears, you just feel a physical responsibility to be there for them to cling to. It’s pretty primal.”

But Danes said those feelings are normal and she is obviously completely smitten with her son. She said he has been having plenty of firsts lately, explaining, “He’s kind of revealing himself to be a bit of a ham, which shouldn’t really be a surprise. A babysitter gave him a kiss goodbye and now he does ‘Mwah, mwah’ to everybody. Or he says ‘Ciao.’ It’s ridiculous. I did not teach him that. He sings Ee-eye ee-eye oh’ to himself all the time. And he’s a toddler, so he says ‘No’ and ‘More’ a lot and he’s just started to have temper tantrums. It’s scary.”

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Danes’ struggles are not only about raising her son. She is juggling being a mom, starring in Homeland and working on her marriage to actor, Hugh Dancy.

“I’m genuinely in love with him,” she said, according to E! News. “I like hard things. You know, marriage is hard, but I’m up for it. I don’t do anything casually so dating is not for me. I would be marrying everyone I was with. When I met Hugh I was single for the first time and really looking forward to it, kind of bragging, ‘I’m going to rock this.’ Then I met Hugh… but I like getting into [a relationship]. It’s more fun [than being single]. There’s so much opportunity if you are interested in each other to go further. It’s kind of a beautiful exercise.”