Helen McCrory talks about motherhood

Actress Helen McCrory, 37, recently talked to the Telegraph about her newly-changed life thanks to being a mother. McCrory and partner Damian Lewis, 35, (Band of Brothers) welcomed their first child, daughter Manon, by c-section five weeks ago. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

- On what Manon is like:

She’s very easy and very beautiful. So far she’s also very calm, so Damian should definitely be getting a DNA test for that one.

- On parenting:

I’ve no idea what sort of parents we’ll be. It’s like any relationship, it grows; we’ll have to see what Manon’s like, and whether she’s a nervous, timid child or an extrovert. We’re not following a book or doing the tough love thing. To be honest, I’m feeding her more on whim than demand – she only has to look at me sideways and I’m there, day or night. I don’t mind; as I’ve never needed eight hours’ sleep, I can take it or leave it.

Source: The Telegraph

Thanks to CBB reader Ann.

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Why Julie Wanted to Adopt an Orphan (PhotoPlay)

Julie Andrews, fresh-faced and smiling brightly, blinked at the bright sunshine of a wintry Hollywood afternoon. A profusion of dark red bougainvillaea framed the Spanish-style archways of her Bel Air Hotel patio and swans glided silently across a pond.

“It couldn’t be more different than home,” she said. “As beautiful as it is, I think Switzerland is even lovelier. It’s warmer here, of course, but I do miss the mountains.”

Julie reached into her handbag and produced a panoramic photograph of the valley in which she lives and the little town of Gstaad that dots the meadows surrounded by icy peaks.

Still suffering jet lag, the result of a quick trip to Hollywood with husband Blake Edwards, Julie was particularly conscious of her home just now. The purpose of her trip was not to publicise her movie, The Tamarind Seed, nor to help Blake in putting the final touches on his new film, Return Of The Pink Panther.

They had flown 5,000 miles to confer with lawyers, the Los Angeles County Bureau of Adoptions and the U.S. Immigration Service.

As newly adoptive parents of a Vietnamese orphan, the Edwards’s – mostly at Blake’s urging – want their daughter to become an American citizen. It was impossible for them to make the arrangements in London, where Blake

“For me it’s a strange feeling being a mother again,” Julie Andrews, tells Vernon Scott has his Pink Panther headquarters or from Switzerland.

Julie, of course, remains a British subject. Blake, the writer, producer and director she married after he directed her in Darling Lili is American.

“If I’m smiling a great deal it’s because I’m a mother again,” Julie said. She replaced the photograph of Gstaad and produced several pictures of her adopted daughter, the young Amy Leigh. Amy has huge brown eyes, a wisp of straight black hair, a round face and, clearly, a happy disposition. “She’s pretty, serene, impish and bright,” Julie said.

“For me it’s a strange feeling being a mother again. I alternately feel younger and a little older. I mean the diapers and bottles and feeding. I’d forgotten all about those things. Fortunately we have a nanny to take care of most of the details. My daughter Emma Kate is 12 years old now. So it’s been a dozen years since I had to care for an infant.

“Blake and I had been thinking about adoption for a long time because we wanted another child. But until now it just wasn’t convenient. We were both working quite hard and traveling a good deal.

“Then there was the problem of having our own children settle down and get to know one another.”

Blake has two children by a previous marriage, 1 8-year-old Jennifer and 1 6-year-old Jeff. Emma is the offspring of Julie and her first husband, theatrical designer Tony Walton.

“Jeff lives with us,” Julie said, “And after a year or so he and Emma are good friends and companions despite the difference in their sex and ages.”

Why did Julie adopt a Vietnamese child instead of a European or American orphan?

“It goes back several years to the time when Blake and I were members of the Committee of Responsibility. It was organised to bring children who were victims of the Vietnam war to the United States for medical attention and treatment they couldn’t receive over there.

“Hundreds of youngsters were brought to America, treated, and returned to Vietnam. We had an opportunity to see some of those children. The Vietnamese are beautiful, delicate people. And, after all, children are children no matter what their background. There was another element that encouraged us to adopt a Vietnamese child. Andre Previn and Mia Farrow are close friends of ours and they adopted such a child. We also are friends of the YuI Brenner’s who adopted two Vietnamese children. So we decided to go through the same agency in Saigon that helped them. We have good reason to believe little Amy was an abandoned child.”

Julie and Blake did not set eyes on Amy until she arrived. They were sent a photograph of the infant when she was only a few weeks old. They filled out the necessary papers and then awaited word from Saigon.

“We were in London last August when the telegram arrived,” Julie recalled, breaking into a smile once more. “We drove out to Heathrow Airport and watched the plane land.

“She was put directly in my arms and it seemed like a miracle. My first reaction was one of unreality when you’ve anticipated something for so long it’s difficult to believe you’ve finally realised it.

“I just stared down at that little bundle in my arms for a long time. And then she smiled at me. That night back at our flat in London, when Blake and I knew there was another little life asleep in the next room, I’m afraid we got a bit sticky. It was a gloriously happy moment for us both.”

The infant had been left behind in Switzerland during Julie and Blake’s brief visit to California. And clearly Julie was missing her.

“From a serious, sober little girl Amy has become a happy baby, bursting with life,” Julie said. “I was happy to report that to the adoption people here in Los Angeles.

“They have been terribly helpful and nice. But they questioned us for three and a half hours during the first hearing. And we expect even more questions and guarantees from us in the second one. The authorities are anxious to protect such children, which I think is exactly right.

“As for Amy, we couldn’t have found a more enchanting baby if we’d gone to Vietnam and picked her out personally.”

Julie plans to devote most of 1975 to motherhood. She has no definite plans to go right into ‘mother motion picture.

“I have two more television specials to do for American television. And I plan to do them back-to-back in London, spending ten days to two weeks on each of them, with a trip home between.

“Right now I prefer to think of home, Emma, Jeff and Amy. After that we will see What happens.”

Article thanks to Catherine Blackford

This is why Julie Andrews and Blake Edwards adopted the orphaned girls from Vietnam.

This article only mentions the first one they adopted they adopted another girl later on.

- Michele S. Glaser on October 22nd, 2006