Many of your fans are wondering how you are coping with the breakdown of your two-year marriage to Billy Bob Thornton...
I'm doing fine. For some reason people were expecting me to collapse if anything ever went wrong in my marriage. But I think I'm a lot stronger and more secure than anyone wants to give me credit for. It's true that in the past I have gone through some difficult times, but you grow from those passages in your life. You learn to take responsibility for your life and how you lead it, and stop feeling sorry for yourself if things don't always work out for you.
Did the collapse of your marriage come as a shock to you?
(Laughs) No. Things had been building up, or should I say, falling apart between us for several months. He wasn't respectful of me and he wasn't committed to our marriage any longer.
Was Billy Bob having affairs?
What was clear to me was that things were going on behind my back which I couldn't live with. I think most people who have read my interviews in the past know that I'm a pretty open and tolerant person, but some things just aren't right and I can't live with someone who doesn't respect his commitments.
Did the adoption of your son Maddox create a rift between you and Billy Bob?
At first it didn't, but later I began to realise that he wasn't willing to take the responsibility of helping me raise Maddox. I was very disappointed and disillusioned by that. Billy Bob turned out to be far less of a man than I expected him to be. He decided to go touring with his band and focus on his music instead of staying with me and being with Maddox. I think that speaks for itself.
Do you still love him?
It's hard to stop loving anyone you've shared time with the way we have. But some things come to an end and obviously my feelings for him have changed considerably. It's very sad, but life is sometimes like that and you have to move on. For me, it's always been important to believe in commitment and to trust the intensity of my emotions. For a time, I had that trust and commitment and then I began to realise that something had gone wrong in our marriage and I was left wondering what had happened. I don't think I changed. I don't think I became a different person. So you can draw your own conclusions.
Has the end of your marriage made you pessimistic about relationships?
No, although it shattered a lot of illusions I had. I think the biggest thing I take away from my marriage has been the knowledge that I can take anything that's thrown at me and not worry about collapsing. I feel a kind of inner strength which I never felt that I had before and which always made me very insecure. You know what I mean - those times when you feel everything is hopeless and the world is closing in on you. Now I feel like I can stand up and face anything.
What is motherhood like?
It's beautiful. I'd always wanted to have children and had thought about adopting for many years. There are so many lost children in this world that more people should seriously consider adoption. I feel that I've been able to fill a need in this beautiful child's world and give him all the love and devotion a mother can give. Even when I'm working, I always have him with me and we're never separated for more than a few hours at a time.
Do you worry about the demands of your career and that it might make your role as a mother more difficult?
Absolutely not. There are a lot of advantages that come from my work as an actress. I earn very good money and I can have as much support as I need. But I'm not going to be a mother who uses a nanny to do all the hard work while I have fun. That's not going to be my work ethic as a mother. Right now, Maddox is going to have a lot of fun watching mommy work on the set from time to time and we're both going to enjoy that experience. (Laughs)
Has motherhood matured you?
You learn to face up to your responsibilities. You stop thinking about yourself so much and stop whining about what's going wrong because you no longer give yourself the luxury of feeling sorry about yourself. I have a great life and I'm not looking at the past. I'm looking forward to my life with Maddox and my work and that's plenty for the time being.
Do you have any regrets about your marriage?
I don't believe in regrets. If you regret things, you might be tentative about what you're going to do next. I don't anticipate anything that could make me feel regret. I just try to do the right thing. But I've been fortunate... I've survived things that maybe I would have regretted attempting. But because I survived, I didn't regret them. So I certainly feel very lucky in my life.
What about the controversial interview your father gave on national TV about your not wanting to have contact with him?
It's a difficult thing. We have our disagreements on many things and right now those disagreements overshadow everything else between us. But I'm sure that one day we're going to be on good terms again, even though I don't know when that will be.
Tell me about your self-admitted dark side. Now that you're a mother, is that something you're going to have to permanently put behind you?
You learn not to give in to darker emotions because they can put you in a terrible state of mind if you let them overwhelm you. We're always prisoners of our emotions to varying degrees, and I've learned from experience that you can take charge of your darkest feelings, and not let them destroy you.
So you feel in control of your life these days?
Very much so. I've gained a greater balance and perspective on life and I feel more confident about who I am and what I want from life than ever. It's taken me a long time to get to that point, but I feel like I've grown up. I feel like I've come to a very nice place in my life, where I've learned to value the things which are truly important. I like who I am much more now than I ever have before... I feel very free and ready to live.
