Tobey Maguire on the Importance of Being Present
 Anthony/Pacific Coast News |
The end of the year is often a time for reflection, and Tobey Maguire says in a new interview that he’s been reflecting on what he can do to simplify his life. The 34-year-old actor tells PARADE that making a list of the various ways he spends his time has motivated him to “edit some things out” in order to make more room for what is truly important.
“It’s kind of a process of self-reflection on how I’m living and spending time with my wife and children, which is a number one priority. But, I love my work as well, so that’s very important too.”
Although he has the ability to run his production company from home, he admits that “it can get in the way of being a dad.”When daughter Ruby Sweetheart, 3, and new baby Otis Tobias, 7 months next week, “pop in” his office Tobey says he’ll stop what he’s doing, but admits, “I’m not as present as I want to be.”
That realization has him charting a new course, however. He adds,
“Now, I’m thinking I’ve got to put everything away, the computers, phones, BlackBerrys, people bothering you about whatever, and just be like, ‘OK, I’m just a daddy right now. I’m going to eat breakfast with my children, I’m going to play with blocks or toys whatever and just totally be with them.’”
Filming Brothers — in which he portrays a U.S. soldier recently returned from Afghanistan — was tough for Tobey; Although the role “resonated” with him as a father, it was often difficult to identify with his character, someone he describes as “a lot more at home with his military family than he is with his wife and kids.”
“It was really heartbreaking to think about how people take things out on the ones they love, especially children who are so full of love and so fragile…I had some scenes where I did things to create havoc in the lives of my wife and children that I could never imagine doing.”
Ruby and Otis are Tobey’s children with wife Jennifer Meyer Maguire. Brothers hits theaters today.
Source: PARADE
– Missy
