- Hugh Grant recently opened up about what it’s like to be an older dad.
- Grant, 64, is a dad to five children who are between 6 and 13 years old.
- The advantages of being an older parent include being more financially stable and having more wisdom.
Hugh Grant recently opened up about the challenges — and perks — of having kids later in life.
On Monday’s episode of the “SmartLess” podcast, the “Notting Hill” actor was asked how many children he has. “Well, we think it’s five,” he replied jokingly.
“But I had them much too old in life you know, I started when I was 52,” he said. “Now I’m 64, you know, and the youngest is 6, and I need a long stint in a sanatorium or an abbey.”
The actor joked that he often looks at the abbey where Maria from “The Sound of Music” lived. “Wish I lived there,” he said.
Grant has a daughter, 13, and a son, 11, with his ex-partner, Tinglan Hong. He shares three children, 12, 8 and 6, with his wife, Anna Eberstein.
Having children later in life has helped him as an actor, Grant said. “I think I was a dried-up middle-aged golf-addicted Englishman then I had children, and suddenly I had heart, and I think I had more layers or something.”
On Wednesday’s episode of “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Grant joked that he hides in the toilet from his children. “There’s a lot to dread ’cause I’m old, and it’s noisy, and it’s unbearable. And I do a lot of hiding in the loo. I do a lot of sleeping in there now,” he said. “There’s a lock, but they’ve pretty much broken it now,” he added.
The dad of five, however, said that having kids is nice. “I’m going home tonight and, you know, let’s face it, the bit where they jump in your arms. The 6-year-old, you know, she calls it her chimpanzee hug. I quite like that,” he said.
A representative for Grant did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
Being a parent later in life
There are upsides to being an older parent.
Caitlin Weaver, who had her kids when she was 38 and 41, said that she started to take self-care more seriously. “My kids’ most active years are still ahead of them, so I want to ensure mine are, too,” said Weaver, who now eats well and exercises regularly. She added that having children later also means that she’s more emotionally secure.
“I’m grateful to have had the time to figure out what I wanted my own life to look like before I became responsible for someone else’s,” she said.
Ryan Crawley, who has two young kids at 49, previously wrote for BI that having children later means that he and his wife are more financially stable.
Still, Crawley worries about having less time with his kids. He tries to spend as much time with them as possible.
“I don’t want to waste a minute with my kids because soon enough, I’ll be a senior citizen, and they’ll just be starting their lives.”
