Halle Berry revealed that, unlike most moms, she is looking forward to the moment when her daughter Nahla flies the nest and discovers her own path in life, rather than dreading her departure.
The 58-year-old joined Jenna Bush Hager on the Today show to guest host Jenna & Friends on Wednesday, and opened up about how her 17-year-old would be leaving for college in just over a year.
Flying the nest
“She’s 17. She’s going to a college summer program, the college that she’s hoping to go to next year,” Halle said on the show. “She’s going away this year to the college summer program.”
“So you’re almost there! Is that wild?” Jenna chimed in.
“It is, but I’m not one of these moms that feels like, ‘Oh, she’s leaving.’ Yes, will I worry? Of course,” she replied.
© Instagram“But am I excited for her to start her life and figure out who she’s gonna be? Absolutely. I’m dying to see who she’s gonna be and what she’s gonna do and what she’ll discover.”
Halle shares Nahla with her ex-partner Gabriel Aubry, whom she met on the set of a fashion shoot in 2005 and dated for almost five years before their split.
She also welcomed her son Maceo in 2013 with her ex-husband Olivier Martinez.
A working mother
© Photo: InstagramThe Monster’s Ball actress added that she is glad her children grew up watching her work hard to provide for them, so they can emulate that in their own lives.
“I’ve felt some guilt, but I want to teach my daughter, ‘Don’t have guilt. Have a family, if you want, have a career if you want. You can do it all, just maybe not all at the same time,” she told Jenna. She continued that her goal was to “break that stigma” around being a working mother.
“We can still be seen as good mothers, there for our children, but also, we have to be there for ourselves because these kids will grow up and move on and if we haven’t maintained a life for ourselves, then what happens?” the mom of two asked.
© Getty Images“What happens when our loves leave the house? What have we built for ourselves? So I think it’s really important to keep your love life, keep your career, keep the things that make you you, your hobbies, your passions, whatever it is,” she continued. “Keep those alive while you’re also being a mom.”
Halle and Gabriel were engaged in a bitter custody battle for years over who Nahla would live with, particularly when the actress wanted to move to France with her growing family.
The tension culminated in a physical fight between Gabriel and Olivier, with a judge granting the French actor an emergency protective order for Halle and Nahla.
A private family
© GettyThroughout Nahla and Maceo’s lives, Halle has worked to maintain their privacy and allow them to lead as normal lives as possible.
“I’ve fought really hard to protect their privacy, and I just want them to have their life and have it be theirs,” she said on Today in 2019.
“I just don’t want to plaster them all over the internet. That just doesn’t feel right for me,” she added. “They’re gonna do that soon enough. That’s gonna be their life when they grow up, and they will choose when that starts.”
To learn more about Halle’s son Maceo, watch below…
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