Helena Christensen and Mingus Pose for Cookie

Courtesy Cookie for use on CBB

Model Helena Christensen and 9-year-old son Mingus Lucien — who seems to have inherited mom’s good looks! — pose for the April cover of Cookie. “[Mingus] is all that matters. He’s my best friend,” Helena, 40, tells the magazine.

Mother and son are passionate about the fund-raising work they do together for Chernobyl Children’s Project International, which provides aid to still-suffering people in regions of Belarus and Ukraine, Helena tells the magazine. She also shares her best beauty tricks — read this and see more photos in the April issue of Cookie!

Source: Cookie; April issue

Comments

Received my copy in the mail and was completely in awe of how striking this child is – oh my!

- brannon on March 24th, 2009

Good gracious he has gotten SO big! They are such a beautiful mother and son

- Harley on March 24th, 2009

Wow, I can see so much of father and his mother in him. He is such a gorgeous child!

- Cassandra on March 24th, 2009

like mother, like son lol-both are absolutely gorgeous.

- Mia on March 24th, 2009

Not only has Mingus inherited his mom’s looks, he also inherited her modeling talent. Amazing!

- Aelys on March 24th, 2009

WOW! That is one beautiful child!

- Katherine on March 24th, 2009

That child is GORGEOUS!!! Mom isn’t bad either!! lol! They are such a beautiful family. What is it about models having these beautiful children (Helena and Cindy) and then showing them off to society for us to be jealous!! I’m joking but they both have GORGEOUS CHILDREN!!

- Crystal on March 24th, 2009

I don’t really like when people say their kids are their “best friends”, it kinda rubs me the wrong way.

- Kelly on March 24th, 2009

He has his mom’s eyes.

- Brandi on March 24th, 2009

OMG, he TOTALLY has that model “pout”!! lol These are two stunning individuals. I see both parents here but those cheekbones and lips look to me like all momma. Helena’s gonna have her hands full!!

- Jessica on March 24th, 2009

I would think that a 40-year old woman’s best friend would be in her generation and sharing a somewhat similar (not identical) worldview. What a burden it is for a child, any child, to be their mother’s best friend. Especially with the power differential and the child’s obvious need for support and guidance.

- NoraS on March 24th, 2009

That’s along the lines of what I meant Nora.

- Kelly on March 24th, 2009

Mingus is so handsome! Future model???

- Sarah on March 24th, 2009

My son (11) is my best friend-ish. I don’t feel it’s a “burden” to him at all. Not the kind of best friend that I dish gossip, talk politics or ask him to do my hair. I mean that he’s with me all the time, his company is what I enjoy most, we play together, we work together. I’m sure she meant it the same way I do. Don’t get all creeped out. It doesn’t take much for people here to form a strange opinion about an innocuous statement.

Oh yeah, and his dad is pretty hot too so I’m not sure the good looks are all hers.

- C-ann on March 24th, 2009

C-ann, not to judge her but, in general, what we think of as a best friend is someone matched to us in experiences and outlook. Someone who can provide an ear and a mature assessment of life when we need their opinion. A child is immature and our children are often under our control. And your assessment the you don’t feel it’s a burden to him is something only he can experience, and in due time, express. You can’t feel for him. I was very close to my mother and my daughter is close to me. I cannot describe either relationship as a best friend when I was a child. Now my mother and I can be very close friends but a best friend will always be a different thing. But that is my opinion, of course.

- NoraS on March 24th, 2009

C-ann,I agree with you! My 11 yr old daughter is like my ‘best friend” in that I like hanging out with her, getting our nails done! Mother-daughter bonding! She’s fun to be around! However, when it comes to my mother responsibilities & discipline I’m all there for it! anyways, gorgeous boy!

- g!na on March 24th, 2009

Her son is gorgeous! Model bound!!!!

- dsquare on March 24th, 2009

Nora, I think you are reading WAY too much into her comments and mine. WAY too much. Wait no I don’t think you read my comment at all because you would know what I was trying to get across. We like to hang out. We like to do things together. I do not burden him with those best friend things while thinking of him as best little buddy. It’s not like he calls me by my first name and picks up my dry cleaning when I can’t get off work early like my best friend actually does.

And of course he gets support and guidance. You missed the point entirely.

- C-ann on March 24th, 2009

Helena Christensen: The most stunning super-model of them all. It’s no wonder Mingus is just as striking as Mom

- Kelpy on March 24th, 2009

Beautiful child!!!!

- stephanie on March 24th, 2009

Her son is beautiful!! Wow!

- Ashlee on March 24th, 2009

C-ann, so he’s not your best friend but your best little buddy. That’s a different thing altogether. And I did read your post carefully.

Mingus is strikingly handsome. He is going to be a heartbreaker.

- NoraS on March 24th, 2009

Very beautiful, photogenic & great at posing – both of them.
That name, however, is minging. Coming from Britain, you’d think it would have been shot down right away in the naming process. :/ At least he can’t ever really be called a minger.

- Alicia on March 24th, 2009

They are such a cute family…pity they where both photoshopped.

Why photoshop a child?!

- Andy on March 24th, 2009

C-Ann, i got your back! Our children are the same age (11) which is such a cool age because their not babies anymore and they are starting to really mature into preteens! I can spend all day with my daughter! we go shopping for clothes, get our hair & nails done! She loves facials and pedicures! She might be 11 but she is turning into a little lady♥ We watch the same movies & do a lot of fun stuff together! yes, she’s my daughter but she does “best friend” stuff with me! I would never call her my best friend because i’m her mom! However,she’s like my best friend in every way! My father just died RIP♥ but i considered him my best friend in my adulthood! I’m 39 & i could tell him anything but because i’m an adult! My daughter is still a child & I have responsibilities to raise her the best i can! She is raised with rules & is disciplined like any other child! By the way, She hates to be grounded! lol. The worst for her is loosing her cell phone but she knows the consquences of her actions!

- g!na on March 24th, 2009

Whoa…beautiful kid.

- jasmine on March 24th, 2009

Nora – which is what I’m sure she is trying to say and tried to explain. You are far too literal for me. Obviously your 9 year old is not your best friend in the terms you feel the need to box it up in. Normally it’s a figure of speech in a way. Not literally. C’mon.

- C-Ann on March 24th, 2009

OMG… seriously… why is it wrong for her to think that her son is her best friend?

- shirly on March 24th, 2009

wow! He is beautiful like his Mom.

- Jane on March 24th, 2009

C-ann, LOL, I’ve been called many things in my life, never literal. I think I need to brush up on my mind-reading skills as the model said something very straightforward. I’ve met too many women who do believe their children & teenagers are their friends, best or otherwise. And with all the consequences that that entails. In the end, to each his own.

- NoraS on March 24th, 2009

Shirly, read the comments for an explanation.

- Kelly on March 24th, 2009

I always assumed Mingus’s name was in honor of Charles Mingus, the jazz musician.

I also have a problem with Helena referring to her son as her best friend. Children need guidance, not friendship, from their parents. However, friendship can come later … at 28, my daughter is now her 47-year-old mom’s best friend.

- mp on March 24th, 2009

I agree w/ C-Ann and g!na…I am sure that Helena just meant that she enjoys spending time with her son and is very close to him, not that he is her actual “best friend” I feel the same way about my son. I love spending time with my kid. He’s bright and funny, and we love walking the dog together, watching movies together and playing boardgames. Because he is almost 12, he spends a good portion of his free time hanging out with his friends and playing video games…so I try to enjoy every minute I can with him. Anyway, Mingus is a gorgeous child….he is definitely going to have the girls chasing after him, lol.

- CTBmom on March 24th, 2009

I didn’t think it was possible… but I think Mingus is actually more beautiful than Helena.

- Blondiebear on March 25th, 2009

Aw, no mention of his gorgeous father Norman Reedus? What an extremely attractive family!

- aristeia on March 25th, 2009

His father was/is a model as well..no surprise here!

- Patterson on March 25th, 2009

I’m an only child. Me and my mother are best friends, and pretty much always have been.
I was the sort of child that “was an adult instantly” as my auntie says. I never felt uncomfortable with my mother being my best friend, in fact, it’s great as a child, especially as all of my friends were jealous of how much of a good relationship we had. It didn’t necesarilly mean that we told each other everything, although we would confide to each other. I would always go straight to her with boy problems, and whenever she had minor problems, she would talk to me about it and ask my advice, which made me feel good to think she valued my point. We would enjoy hanging out, and she said to me the other day (im 18 now) that one of the reasons i never misbehaved as a child, or a teenager, was because we were such good friends, and i never felt the need to push the boundries.
I don’t know what its like for Helena and Mingus, but it may just be that they hang out, and have fun together, and if they’re comfortable enough to say they’re best friends I think that’s great.

- skipsie on March 25th, 2009

Helena, invest in some high tech weaponry now…the girls will fall all over themselves for that gorgeous boy of yours in a few years…if they aren’t already!

- Anita on March 25th, 2009

♥

- Crystal on March 25th, 2009

the kid is so gorgeous. future model. i saw this magazine in the supermarket and i couldn’t believe how much the kid looked like an angel.wow

- angelina on April 18th, 2009