When celebrities have babies, the general public rarely sees anything other than carefully curated Instagrams of gorgeous family photos. Or, if you’re Chrissy Teigen, pictures of her toddler in a hot dog costume. But everyone’s favorite heartthrob Justin Timberlake is getting real about parenting, and it’s refreshing to hear: even he thinks it’s hard.
Well, knock me over with a feather.
In a candid interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Justin Timberlake, now 36, says that fatherhood has been a stressful experience, to say the least. His wife, Jessica Biel, gave birth to their son Silas nearly two years ago, and it’s been a wild ride ever since.
“At first, it broke me down,” Timberlake told the publication. “Those first eight months felt like those old [Ed Sullivan] shows where people are balancing spinning plates on poles—except if you drop one, they die.”
Justin’s not alone in feeling that sort of helplessness when it comes to having a newborn. But not many of us can say that our child helped rocket us to the top of the music charts—Timberlake credits Silas with inspiring him to write the mega-hit “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” that featured in the movie “Trolls.”
“Watching him jump around to ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling!’ starting to learn words because of that song—it’s the best thing in the world,” Timberlake told The Hollywood Reporter.
But amid that joy is serious trepidation. In the interview, Timberlake says he can barely recall a childhood, barely recall not being famous. While this might sound great to an average civilian like us, Timberlake says it’s exhausting—and not necessarily what he wants for his son.
“Would I want my child to follow my path?” Timberlake asked himself during the Hollywood Reporter interview. “You know, I haven’t been able to answer that question in my mind. If he wanted it bad enough, I suppose I could teach him a lot about what not to do.”
Timberlake’s not the first celeb to admit how tough parenting can be. John Krasinski of “The Office” fame opened up about the challenges of fatherhood last year, too. While we wouldn’t wish anyone a hard time, it’s refreshing to hear that celebs struggle with the highs and lows of parenting as much as the rest of us.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.
