Annette Bening: 'My Kids Are Pretty Great'

Two-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening has been a major player in Hollywood for almost 25 years, but her greatest role is playing mom to her four children with husband Warren Beatty. In a quick chat , the star of 'American Beauty' and the just released 'Mother and Child,' radiant at 51, talks Mother's Day, munchies and how she juggles motherhood and her career.



Mothers Day is coming up. Do you celebrate?
Yes, I've loved Mothers Day since my kids were little. Usually something special happens. I get taken out.

Do you get breakfast in bed?
Yes! That has happened many times. I forgot about it until you just said it, which is delightful.

How about the homemade tchotchkes?
They are the best! I have many of them, as you can imagine. I still get them, and they're the most treasured possessions.

You have three teens. Are they embarrassed by you ever?
Sure, there are times, but my kids are pretty great. That happens, but they're also sort of proud too.

How important is work to you?
It's very important. It can make you crazy not having that kind of intellectual stimulation and not using your brain, especially with tiny ones -- that can really make you insane. In a way, women aren't supposed to acknowledge that and [are suppose to] pretend that it's all just fabulous and we love every moment and it's just a wonder, and of course, it is a wonder, but it's also tiring and really, really hard work and a lot of the time your life is not about you, it's about what everyone else wants. In a way that's a stage you basically never get out of. [Laughs] There's that selflessness you need to find, and on the other hand, you hire a babysitter and you go out and you do your work.

Are you a strict mom?
I think so. I'm pretty strict, not insanely strict. I like to think I know how to do that because they need it. It's healthier for everybody if they have some limits.

Do you make them pick up?
Yes, and word of advice, start them cleaning up after themselves when they're young because as they get older it gets harder.

How about junk food?
I try to not be too crazy, but yeah there's a lot out there and it's so accessible. And what is up with getting snacks at school? What is that? I don't even know what that is. It's new. I don't ever remember getting snacks at school.