Chris Pratt is acknowledging how hard it is to step in and become a stepparent — just as his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, did.
“It’s a tough job. Parenting is a little bit like mo-cap acting because, in the end, you don’t end up getting the credit you deserve,” Pratt, 46, shared during a joint appearance with Schwarzenegger, 35, on the “Parenting & You With Dr. Shefali” podcast on Tuesday, July 15. (The actor was referencing motion-capture acting where actors wear sensors to record physical movements, which is later turned into animation.)
Pratt shares son Jack, 12, with ex-wife Anna Farris and daughters Lyla, 4, and Eloise, 3, and 7-month-year-old son Ford with Schwarzenegger, whom he tied the knot with in 2019.
The Jurassic World actor went on to say that children whose parents aren’t together also struggle more because they have to “continually process the fact that they are children of divorce.”
“If a parent is in there doing the hard work of creating structure for a child and holding children accountable, and it’s not a biological child, it can feel thankless,” he continued. “But it’s a really, really important job.”
After Schwarzenegger and Pratt got engaged in 2019, Schwarzenegger knew it would be tough coming in as a stepmom to Pratt’s son Jack so she hired a stepparenting coach.
“It’s been incredibly helpful for me and also just understanding my role as a step-parent,” she explained on Tuesday. “Stepparenting, like parenting, has no handbook. Because I have the benefit of being in both roles. Stepparenting is extra confusing because you aren’t a parent, you’re not a nanny, you’re not an assistant. You have responsibilities in all of those areas but you’re not either of them.”
Although having a stepparenting coach has been helpful for her, Schwarzenegger has also found it is helpful to talk to her mom, Maria Shriver, about stepparenting and parenting in general.
“I look to my mom for everything,” she gushed. “I call her with everything, I talk to her about everything, whether it’s being a wife, being a mom and even being a stepmom, I talk to her about all those dynamics. She’s the greatest well of wisdom I could ever have. I really just think that she’s led by example. I watch everything she does.”
Aside from dealing with the difficulties of stepparenting, Schwarzenegger and Pratt are also busy with children of their own.
In November 2024, the couple expanded their family once again when they welcomed son Ford.
“We are overjoyed to announce the birth of our son, Ford-Fitzgerald Schwarzenegger Pratt,” Pratt and Schwarzenegger wrote in a joint Instagram statement at the time. “Mama and baby are doing well and Ford’s siblings are thrilled by his arrival. We feel so blessed and grateful.”
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