If you’re planning on starting a family, Rose Byrne’s anxiety-inducing new black-comedy film, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, might send you running for the hills.
In a tour-de-force role that earned her an Academy Award nomination, Rose plays Linda, an isolated working mother who is barely hanging on.
The star, who has two children with the actor Bobby Cannavale, giggles when asked if the movie might contribute to the declining global birthrate.
“I hope not. Look, what happens to Linda in this film – having a seriously ill child – 99% of parents will not experience something like this, thank God,” she says.
Rose’s character has to juggle her job as a therapist with caring for a daughter who is suffering from a severe eating disorder, requiring a feeding tube and trips to day care. The pair are then forced to relocate to a rundown motel after their home is flooded.
With a strong background in comedy, Rose, 46, helps to bring levity to the notion that Linda – who clearly needs help herself – is a licensed practitioner whose work involves helping people with problems even worse than her own.
“This film is really about being a caretaker as well as a mother,” the actress says.
“Friends of mine who don’t have children relate to it, too, if they’ve looked after somebody ill in their life: a friend, a parent, a spouse, a sibling. It’s an artistic expression of trauma, so I don’t think it should hinder you from starting a family.”
Rose’s relationship with Bobby Cannavale
Rose, who has been in a relationship with Bobby for 14 years, refers to the Boardwalk Empire star as her “husband”, although the couple have not tied the knot.
Based in New York, they have two sons: Rocco, ten, and Rafa, eight.
© Getty Images for Creative ArtistWhen she won the award for best actress in a musical or comedy at this year’s Golden Globes, Rose said in her acceptance speech that her partner was absent because he was attending a reptile expo in New Jersey to buy a bearded dragon for their children.
Balancing her busy career with family life
Although A-list parents are presumed to have a small army of help, the actress describes a hands-on struggle that many will recognise. “I think it’s the hardest thing in the world to be a parent, and then to work and be married,” she says.
“It’s like you’re constantly thinking: ‘What does my family need? What does my husband need? What do I need?’ It’s a constant re-evaluation of all the relationships in our life, and it’s impossible.”
© FilmMagic“This idea of balance is kind of, you know, good luck! It’s always chaos, and you can only take care of your side of the street and manage yourself in chaos and try to add calm to a situation as best you can.”
Rose, who was born in Sydney, believes that her background helped her to bring Linda’s multifaceted character to life. “I’m naturally a person who will laugh in a bad situation or in times of tension. I mean, I’m Australian; we definitely have a disposition of humour about crises, or about difficult moments in your life,” she says.
Rose’s one film that her children have watched
More accustomed to making viewers laugh than cry, having appeared in comedies such as Bridesmaids and Get Him to the Greek, Rose is currently starring alongside Seth Rogen in the Apple TV series Platonic. And with so many R-rated comedies on her CV, her sons have rarely seen her films.
“Oh God, no; they’ve certainly not seen this film (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You). To be honest, they have a healthy disinterest in watching Bobby’s films, and mine, which I respect.”
“Oh God, no; they’ve certainly not seen this film,” she says, referring to If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. “To be honest, they have a healthy disinterest in watching Bobby’s films, and mine, which I respect. They’ve seen the Peter Rabbit films I did, which were really fun, but that’s it.”
How Rose prepared for her latest role
In preparation for her latest role, the actress sat down with mothers of children with special needs. “It’s fascinating to see the entire spectrum of those who cope and perhaps don’t cope as well, and what that has done to their relationships – marriages, friendships, work life,” she says. “It was an eye-opening experience and it’s forever changed my experiences of being a parent.”
The film’s writer and director, Mary Bronstein, even gave Rose access to her own diaries, dating back to when her daughter was struck down by a mysterious illness at the age of seven.
© Getty Images“It’s a very personal story to Mary, and something she went through with her child,” she says.
Despite the heavy themes, Rose had plenty of distractions, working with the rapper and actor A$AP Rocky in his role as a motel manager. “We were all waiting for Rihanna on set, believe me,” she laughs. “I knew Rocky’s music, and obviously he’s in an extraordinarily high-profile relationship, but he’s so talented. He couldn’t have been sweeter.
“He worked very hard and he has a supernatural charm. But my character had to be mean to him, which I found really hard because he was so nice.”
How motherhood has changed her approach to work
Motherhood, she says, has changed her approach to both life and the roles she takes on. “Once you become a mother, it can’t not inform every role you do. There’s a before and after as a person; it’s inherently there.
“All those experiences are, subconsciously or consciously, in your body, and you’re going to have it in your nervous system,” she says.
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