Becoming a stepmom is not an easy transition. Most of the stories portray these women as evil after all. There’s no guidebook, so you have to make it up as you go.
Anna Faris admitted on the Today show on July 15, 2024, that she floundered a bit at first. She married cinematographer Michael Barrett in 2021 and got two bonus kids in the process. The kids were teens at the time, and Anna tried a little too hard to bond with them at first. The family has since found its footing.
“When I first entered into their lives, I had no idea how to relate to them,” Anna confessed. “So I remember trying to be really cool, like blasting music when I would go pick up my stepdaughter, and, of course, she was mortified. That’s kind of one example of my stumbling through that position.” Anna was clearly trying but it was a little too much.
Anna told People in 2022 that her status as an actor didn’t win her any points with her stepkids. “I think that I didn’t give them a ton of reason to cultivate a trusting relationship, because I also think, when you’re an actor, your … interactions are different than with most people,” she explained. She didn’t understand why they didn’t immediately love her.
“Most people, even if they don’t care for you, are really kind to you, which of course, inflates your ego or whatever, and you just don’t tend to have a ton of rude or normal interactions,” Anna went on to explain. “And I think that I didn’t respect the idea that I have a completely different relationship with them.” They didn’t care she was an actor. They needed her to have a different role in their lives.
Thankfully the teens and Anna figured it out. “I have this special place in their life where I just get to be supportive. And I have been really working hard on that,” she gushed.
Beyond her duties as stepmom, Anna shares her 11-year-old son Jack with ex-husband Chris Pratt.
Anna gave Hoda Kotb and Justin Sylvester an update on her stepkids. She keeps their names out of the media for their privacy. “She’s 20 now. She’s at Georgetown [University]. I’m really proud of her, and a 17-year-old boy who’s totally excelling at school,” she gushed. She is grateful for her solid relationship with both of them, even if it took them a little while to get there.
