Monet Mazur: I Want To Be Julie Andrews!

Babble.com

Monet Mazur - My Life as a mom The Castle actress wants to be Julie Andrews.

by Andrea Zimmerman

You've seen actress and model Monet Mazur in plenty of your favorite TV shows: CSI: Miami, Cold Case, Party of Five, and this week, she's reprising her role as Gina Cowell on Castle. But what you probably didn't know about Monet is that in addition to playing Mom to son, Marlon, 5 (with husband, Alex de Rakoff), she's also lived - and raised her son - all over the world, never fights in front of him, and is infatuated with The Sound of Music.

What's your parenting philosophy?

I think [parents] always have one before they have their child, but then once they give birth, every kid is so different. We definitely treat and raise Marlon as an equal - as much as you can treat a child as an equal. We let him make a lot of his own choices and try to be easygoing. When we had him, we went on a three-year crazy move across the world, so my ideas of how I thought [parenting] would be - regimented, strict and scheduled - werethrown out the window. You have to let go and go with the flow. We've lived all over the world - he's gone to school in Spain, London and New York and now we're back in L.A. He's adapted so well.

Did living all over the world affect your parenting?

To an extent. When we lived in Spain, it was in the country and there wasn't much to do like there is in L.A., with structured schools and classes. It was much about nature and taking him for walks near the rivers and animals and farms and road trips to the beach, which was so amazing. It was just the three of us, so there was something very romantic and easygoing about living there.

Was moving across the world in the plans or was it spontaneous?

It just happened! The type-A controlling side of me was like, "We can't do this!" But once we relaxed, we saw every country as a new land, and we figured it out.

If you could teach your son one life lesson, what would it be?

Always be kind to other people. Marlon is turning five next week, and he just became super-aware of what it means to see homeless people on the street. I explain that some people don't have a home, and he'll say, "If he doesn't have a home, can't he stay in a hotel?" What do you say to that? It deeply affected him. He kept asking where the guy in the park was, and if he could come home with us. It's very hard to teach your children to be kind and do the best for people, but that they can't do everything.

How have you managed a public tantrum?

In the beginning, your first reaction is to be embarrassed by it. But the older my son got, the less I cared. Kids are kids, and they're not going to be perfect and sit quiet all the time. If you're going to throw a tantrum, we're going to leave. Instead of catering to him, I'd get in the car and go. After a while, he realized "A" plus "B" equals "I go home."

More from Monet on raising her son as a busy actress -- and the movie mom she wishes she could be.

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