Rose Leslie has a lovely spread in the new Harper’s Bazaar. She’s promoting her new HBO series, The Time Traveler’s Wife with Theo James. I really enjoyed that book and this adaptation looks good. I’m looking forward to it. I don’t know much about Rose. I watched her on Game of Thrones but other than a few minutes on the red carpet, I’ve not heard much from her. After reading this interview, I feel like we’d be friends. Her responses are thoughtful and insightful. Since her son with husband Kit Harington is just over a year old, being a new mom got a lot of attention in the interview. I found myself agreeing with much of what she said. She also spoke about co-parenting with Kit, who splits the load with Rose so they can balance their careers. When one works, the other takes the bulk of the baby duties. Of course, Kit had to do a lot of work on himself before he could get to such a healthy place, going to rehab and staying sober. Rose discussed that briefly in her interview as well. She’s clearly proud of where Kit is with his work with AA and his sobriety, but she clarifies that it’s his responsibility to maintain that sobriety, that being his nanny won’t help him at all.
On becoming a new mom: It’s a glorious thing to be in that shared space with new mums, willing to open up about the trials and tribulations, and be like, ‘Yes, I’m actually finding it quite tough.’ When my son was born, the narrative seemed to be that you’re automatically going to be enamoured with this little person. But why should that be the case when you have never experienced having a child? Why should it come innately? There’s an element of me saying, ‘Hey, buddy, we’re here now. It’s amazing. But I’ve got to get to know you, and forge the relationship that’s going to see us through our lifetime.’
On acting: It’s no coincidence that I’m a middle child and an actor. I struggled with finding words to express myself, to find the words in my mind. I struggle with being eloquent. A part of me recognises that and wishes to say other people’s words. I’m leaning in to that.
On staying off social media: If I had an Instagram account, my anxiety would go through the roof!
On Kit’s addiction: I’ve learnt a lot about addiction and it’s something Kit is forever going to be aware of, but it’s on him whether he chooses to drink again. No amount of nannying is going to be able to stop him from doing what he decides to do… I don’t choose to put that pressure on myself. The responsibility of his behaviour is on him. It’s not on me to guard him from it.
Rose mentioned in the interview how much she’s benefitted from Al-Anon. For those who don’t know, Al-Anon is a support group for friends and family of addicts. In addition to support, it helps the family and friends understand the behavior of the addict as well as their own behavior with the addict. AA and Al-Anon doesn’t work for everyone but when it does, it’s great. It sounds like that’s the case for Kit and Rose and I’m glad to hear it. I don’t want to speculate into Kit’s addiction, but Rose speaks in the interview with the confidence that he has the tools to maintain the work he’s done. I’m sure it’s done wonders for their life together too. I also appreciate that the interviewer asked how Rose was doing in Kit’s recovery. Regardless of whose responsibility it is, living or dealing with an addict is a huge stressor for those who love them.
Here’s the trailer for The Time Traveler’s Wife. It begins May 15th
Photo credit: Instagram, Avalon Red and InStar Images
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