Jeri Ryan on Keeping Kids Out of the Public Eye

Elizabeth Messina for PEOPLE for use on CBB

With a career that has spanned two decades, Jeri Ryan has weathered  her fair share of Hollywood’s highs and lows. Sometimes, she notes in a new interview with SheKnows, those lows have been a blessing in disguise, however.

When her former show Shark was canceled, its viewers were vocal in their disappointment — but Jeri, 41, says she felt anything but. “I was home on maternity leave, so my mind was in a very, very different place,” she explains.

“I was really quite fine with it — that one did not hurt. At that point, I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to go back to work.”

Fans hoping for Jeri to elaborate will only be in for more disappointment. The mom-of-two says that keeping her private life private remains a priority.

“There are some movie stars who are so massive that, no matter what they do, the paparazzi will follow them,” she notes. “But, for the most part, people who are followed by the tabloids have cultivated that.”

“That’s not anything I have ever been interested in — certainly not for my family. I chose this career; my kids didn’t.”

Jeri is mom to Gisele Lynn, 23 months, with husband Christophe Émé, and Alex, 15, from a previous marriage.

Source: SheKnows

Comments

I like the way she thinks, but still she is posing with a newborn baby in the cover of People magazine. I know a couple of celebrity that DO keep their family life out of public eyes without any concesion.

- lina on February 28th, 2010

This wasn’t a cover, it was a small article introducing the baby. And seeing that Giselle is now 2 years old and this is the only picture of her out there, I would say Jeri is doing a good job keeping her word.

- April on February 28th, 2010

I also think she’s balanced it really well. After Gisele was born she released birth info (including the baby’s name) and after that I don’t think she has appeared with her daughter in any magazines. I do like to know the baby’s name etc., that’s why I don’t really understand why certain celebrities all of a sudden decide they don’t want to release the name of one of their children…like Greg Kinnear (I think it was him, of whom we know he has two daughters named Lily and Audrey and a third child whose name was never released…which makes me all the more curious ).

- Lisa on February 28th, 2010

I really like her, but I have seen enough of her interviews to know that she has revealed many private things.

So, I’m left questioning if the quote is out of context, or Jeri is just inconsistent? Again, I’m a big fan, and I think her quote is saying other than I’m keeping my private life private. I think she is saying something more about the type of celebrity that always has his/her name in the papers.

- Toni on March 1st, 2010

@Toni, she went through a VERY nasty and public divorce with her ex-husband. There are things out there about her that were let out not by her own choosing.

- Shannon on March 2nd, 2010

Yes Shannon that is exactly what I am saying. I know the story, and many things have come out not of her choosing and she is also revealed things that have nothing to do with the scandal, but are still personal because she seems so much more down to earth than many other celebs. So,if you read my comment I state that she is making more of a statement about the type of celebrity who in the same situation as she was in would milk it for all its worth and turn it into a media circus (case in point, Kate and John G). To clarify, the private life comment by the reporter is designed to bring readers in, but has little to do with Jeri’s point.

- toni on March 2nd, 2010

toni- Good point! Jeri wasn’t the one who said she’s keeping her private life private. It was the writer of the article that said that.

Anyway, as for this comment of hers: “I chose this career; my kids didn’t.”, if I’m remembering correctly, I think Johnny Depp once said, word-for-word, the exact same thing about his kids!

- CelebBabyLover on March 3rd, 2010