Rose Leslie has a lovely spread in the new Harper’s Bazaar. She’s promoting her new HBO series, The Time Traveler’s Wife with Theo James. I really enjoyed that book and this adaptation looks good. I’m looking forward to it. I don’t know much about Rose. I watched her on Game of Thrones but other than a few minutes on the red carpet, I’ve not heard much from her. After reading this interview, I feel like we’d be friends. Her responses are thoughtful and insightful. Since her son with husband Kit Harington is just over a year old, being a new mom got a lot of attention in the interview. I found myself agreeing with much of what she said. She also spoke about co-parenting with Kit, who splits the load with Rose so they can balance their careers. When one works, the other takes the bulk of the baby duties. Of course, Kit had to do a lot of work on himself before he could get to such a healthy place, going to rehab and staying sober. Rose discussed that briefly in her interview as well. She’s clearly proud of where Kit is with his work with AA and his sobriety, but she clarifies that it’s his responsibility to maintain that sobriety, that being his nanny won’t help him at all.
On becoming a new mom: It’s a glorious thing to be in that shared space with new mums, willing to open up about the trials and tribulations, and be like, ‘Yes, I’m actually finding it quite tough.’ When my son was born, the narrative seemed to be that you’re automatically going to be enamoured with this little person. But why should that be the case when you have never experienced having a child? Why should it come innately? There’s an element of me saying, ‘Hey, buddy, we’re here now. It’s amazing. But I’ve got to get to know you, and forge the relationship that’s going to see us through our lifetime.’
On acting: It’s no coincidence that I’m a middle child and an actor. I struggled with finding words to express myself, to find the words in my mind. I struggle with being eloquent. A part of me recognises that and wishes to say other people’s words. I’m leaning in to that.
On staying off social media: If I had an Instagram account, my anxiety would go through the roof!
On Kit’s addiction: I’ve learnt a lot about addiction and it’s something Kit is forever going to be aware of, but it’s on him whether he chooses to drink again. No amount of nannying is going to be able to stop him from doing what he decides to do… I don’t choose to put that pressure on myself. The responsibility of his behaviour is on him. It’s not on me to guard him from it.
Rose mentioned in the interview how much she’s benefitted from Al-Anon. For those who don’t know, Al-Anon is a support group for friends and family of addicts. In addition to support, it helps the family and friends understand the behavior of the addict as well as their own behavior with the addict. AA and Al-Anon doesn’t work for everyone but when it does, it’s great. It sounds like that’s the case for Kit and Rose and I’m glad to hear it. I don’t want to speculate into Kit’s addiction, but Rose speaks in the interview with the confidence that he has the tools to maintain the work he’s done. I’m sure it’s done wonders for their life together too. I also appreciate that the interviewer asked how Rose was doing in Kit’s recovery. Regardless of whose responsibility it is, living or dealing with an addict is a huge stressor for those who love them.
Here’s the trailer for The Time Traveler’s Wife. It begins May 15th
Photo credit: Instagram, Avalon Red and InStar Images
There were a lot of cheating rumors too which I think she’s really talking about. And absolutely it’s about him.
Yeah, my mind went immediately to his cheating and not the alcohol recovery.
Did he really cheat on her though? Olga said their affair happened in Luxembourg, but Kit’s mouth piece said he’s never even been there. Did evidence of him being there ever come out?
I’m so disappointed to learn she’s a Tory and pro-Brexit though. Ugh.
Wasn’t there a picture of him in bed though?
@Christine I remember a blurry pic that COULD have been him but just as well could have been someone else or a doctored pic. I never really knew what to think of the rumours or their whole situation. I really like some of her soundbites though.
The person in the pic literally had the same birthmark as Kit; it was him. Kit pretty much went into rehab right after the revelation once the GOT promo tour was over.
He’d been having issues for a while (there were multiple cheating and drinking rumours), so why go then instead of before if it wasn’t true? The denial was just because they guessed that people would believe him over her. Apparently they still do.
Her father is a Tory and pro-Brexit. Do we know for sure that she is?? She’s an adult and adults have different political views than their parents all the time.
@Ameerah
She campaigns for the Tories so yeah she’s a Tory.
She sounds really well balanced and I love that she places responsibility for his behavior on him. She’s his partner not his parent.
She was very good on BBC’s Vigil. I’m looking forward to checking out TTW.
Yes, she does. I am glad that she is placing the recovery of Kit on him, as he is the one responsible for his actions. We are not responsible for the actions of others, we are only responsible for our response regarding their actions. You have to draw the line in the sand and it seems she did and all the better for her, and most importantly Kit.
It sounds like they are at a really good place and that she has made peace, for lack of a better word, with her role in his recovery.
What she says about newborns….that was honestly something I said to my friends when they were all having babies after I had had mine (none of my friends are having babies anymore really lol) – but I would say “you may not be in love with the baby right away and that’s okay.” I loved my boys right away but I didn’t feel that sense of overwhelming love right away – it took a few weeks for my first, a few days for my second (my first came after an exhausting labor and c-section and PPD was a factor too.) But I had this feeling that I was failing as a mother because I didn’t feel what people said I should feel about him, and it just made the PPD worse because I thought something was wrong with me. And then one day something clicked and I was enamored with him, as Rose describes it.
With my second I gave myself grace and didn’t pressure myself to feel that, and it came much faster. So that was my advice to new moms – that it was okay if it took some time.
I love hearing this, I had the same weird feeling right after having my baby. I told my sister, I didn’t except a Cinderella type of transformation after having the baby, but I didn’t feel like a mom. She said that was ok. It will happen overtime and in comparison, she had kids in her early 20’s, she didn’t have time to form a whole life before them. I was 32, I had a whole decade to form an identity. That feeling of being a mom and having a baby and falling in love with your baby will come.
I think it took a good six weeks with my first. He was basically a stranger to me and I spent a while trying to wrap my head around how I had made a real human. To be fair, he’s 13 now and still has a very relaxed and nonchalant kind of personality. The second one it only took until we got home from the hospital. He’s 7yo now and is hell on wheels. So maybe it has to do with baby personality, too? Who knows…
I think she’s stunning and I like what she says!
She’s 100% right 👏🏻 Also I went to Al-alon bc my dad is an alcoholic and it’s super helpful. Very informative and the ppl who are there are wonderful support systems
Same. It works if you work it! 🙏🤗
I love what she said and really that statement is for his behavior in general. I had to have the same conversation with my in laws. My husband has gained a considerable amount of weight and it’s visibly uncomfortable for him (breathes heavy, trouble moving, etc). I’ve had so many talks with him and suggested he just go get a check up. He won’t. I can’t force him to get a check up. I refuse to make the appointment for him. He has to be able to want to take care of himself. I had to say that to my in laws.
@Mindy, thank you for saying that. I’ve struggled with the same with my husband’s health and weight – wanting to help but knowing it’s his responsibility – and I needed to read your words.
Well, I can’t wait for Time Traveler’s Wife. It was a wonderful book, and the trailer looks great!
I love that she’s got that inner resolve and strength to understand what her role is in Kit’s recovery and sobriety. I wish I felt like they’d go the distance, and I hope they do, but she’ll survive it if they don’t with all this work she’s doing now. It does sound like they are doing the right things, balancing co-parenting and careers, which is good for Kit — removes some big stressors. I wish them all the best.
She looks glorious in that yellow dress. Kit looks…
I will never not think about that cheating incident before they wed where that Russian chick took and posted naked photos of him and then the dark operators in the world managed to scrub THE ENTIRE INTERNET of any photo of it. THAT is power. (I think they did that with Beyoncé’s age too, lol!)
I can’t stand her since I found out that she is not only a Tory but also a pro-Brexit and that she even campaigned for it with her dad (her dad was part of the Scottish pro-Brexit party from which he was kicked out after stealing money and how if that wasn’t enough he’s also a Trump supporter).
Whaaaaaaat? Noooooooo.
Yes, just checked. She left The Good Fight to help her dad. 🤦🏽♀️
She did not deserve to be in such good TV. Glad she left.
ugh, it’s always so disappointing when someone young turns out to be a right wing shill. Not too surprising in her case though- isn’t she super old money?
@Plums
yes, but her family is so full of debts that they have lost the family castle and Kit Harington has paid part of the debts (there was an article in the Sun a few years ago)
Such an ugly stance to support. She acts as if she doesn’t think for herself, or supports her father’s ambitions while turning a bling eye to his criminal dealings. He father is a scumbag, as is she to support him. Turning a blind eye to his dealings make her complicit.
Birds of a feather flock together.
This series will not be the first adaptation of the book.
There’s already a movie The Time Traveller’s Wife with Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana and it’s lovely and definitely better than this one. Rachel McAdams did a great job at capturing Claire’s joy and love for Henry.
Eric Bana is so underrated and should be a bigger deal. he did so well at portraying Henry at different points in his life, when you consider that every scene Henry was at a different point in his life.
I thought this story line looked familiar. Had forgotten the name of the EB & RM movie, it was really good, and I cried at the ending.
Yep, have the book, which I adore, and the movie.
This series will definitely be able to do more than the movie but Eric Bana will always be my Henry and I don’t know what it is but Theo just doesn’t do it for me at all in any way.
LOVE the messaging re: newborns. I wanted a baby soooo badly, and we had some fertility struggles, so I was beyond excited to finally be pregnant. But…when the baby came out, it was surreal and weird. I didn’t have the social media worthy gushing post about the most love I’ve ever felt. I really struggled with breast feeding (and I think it really made me wacky due to the hormones), and I felt crushing judgment for hating it and wanting to formula feed (from society, other moms, pediatricians!) ….and that made me actually resent my baby. I thought I had made a huge mistake having a baby for a bit there. When I finally quit 6-8 weeks in, I felt like myself and that’s when I actually started to love my baby. I mean, I loved her and was terrified of the thought of anything happening to her, but I hated everything about life during those first few months. I do think there is more of a reality check among parents in that people are starting to be real and honest about the highs and lows of parenting.
I agree with all of this! Mine was ff from the beginning and I had to fight off the constant questions about not bf. With that and this overwhelming pressure of keeping a new human alive really took it out of me. But I struggle with severe anxiety, had not yet got back on my meds, so that may have kept my baby love at bay for a bit, too.
Solidarity!
This is rather frivolous in light of the interview revelations, but the Instagram pictures are stunning! I especially love the magnolia dress with magnolia!
Being a new mother can be incredibly tough. My boys were 20 months apart and I struggled with post-partum depression both times. My ex was/is a workaholic, so I didn’t get the support I needed. I loved them both so much, and I was always obsessing about my fitness as a parent, so I couldn’t be as present for them as I wanted to be. They’re both in college now and they have turned out to be wonderful young men, so I am thankful.
Good on Kit if he can stay present for parenting and deal with his addiction. The stress could easily push him over so I am keeping my fingers crossed for both of them. I am sure they have help, too, which is a wonderful thing.
I completely agree with her statements that his addiction and behaviors are on him and not her responsibility. While that seems a given, for a partner of someone with an addiction it can be a struggle – for yourself, for others or both. My spouse is in recovery and has been sober for almost 20 years. But I still remember the acute feelings of pain and guilt when he relapsed, wondering if there was something about our marriage or life together that had triggered it. He always took 100% responsibility and never placed blame anywhere but on himself, but it’s hard not to feel as if you are lacking or are partly to blame while in the moment. When one of his counselors said to me “I’m glad he’s doing well, but how are YOU doing?” I completely broke down because it was the first time someone was addressing that all of his issues still effect me and that I may be struggling too. I am grateful to AA and treatment facilities for all they do, but resources for the families and loved ones with the addiction remain woefully underfunded and under-represented.
I was with an addict for three years, and this whole concept is sooooo much easier said than done. While it’s their responsibility, you absolutely face the consequences of their decisions, sometimes more than they do, especially as parents. Kit’s sobriety is only very recent, which is always a shaky time, but it’s honestly wonderful how open they both are.
Yes, addiction really isn’t cut and dried unless the addict in question becomes a recovery paragon which is extremely rare.
I wish them the best, though. Kit looks better sober, and his acting improves. I’m sure it’s a lot easier on her too.
Yea, plus getting sober while having a baby is pretty commendable. It’s hard to get sober even under low stress circumstances, let alone parenthood.
Love this. I don’t know about her politics, but as a recovering alcoholic I love it when celebrities (though Kit and Rose aren’t QUITE celebrities, just actors on a great show) are brutally honest about their struggles with addiction, and how AA/Al-Anon can really help.
My mum was an alcoholic. My friend took me to Alateen w/her (I was barely 13). Her dad was the alcoholic in her home. The mother (whom I do not remember at all) and daughter went to Alanon/Alateen. It was the Dad who recognized my ‘excuses’ and spoke to me so gently about what was happening in my home. I had to lie to my mum, but I went to Alateen for a number of years. Then, as an adult, I fell in love with an addict…so to Alanon I went.
Now, as the mother of a binge drinker, I’m just starting to look up where the Alanon meetings are in my neighbourhood (they were hard to find – the in-person ones, I mean – during Covid) but I’ve found one that might work. Sadly it’s over-town so further away than I would like. It’s odd that having so much experience w/addiction, I still find myself needing support so as to not bail my son to my own personal detriment, but there it is. I have in the past, and need help to not do so in the future. The organizations can truly be life-saving.
Kit always looks pathetic, to me. It’s his down-sloping eyes & brows, emphasized by his angled down mustache. It’s the epitome of resting sad-face, just about to have a little boy cry..
She comes from a very wealthy Scottish family.If Kit doesn’t walk line,he’ll be out with very little.