Patricia Clarkson, I love you so much. The actor opened up (in a conversation recorded prestrike) about her husband-free, kid-free lifestyle, explaining that she never really felt an urge to go the domestic route and feels fulfilled in her roles as daughter, sister, friend, and aunt.
“Don’t get me wrong—I hate being single,” Clarkson, 63, said on the podcast Table for Two With Bruce Bozzi, per People. “I’ve had beautiful, extraordinary men in my life, and I wouldn’t change any of that. But I’ve never wanted to marry, I’ve never wanted children. I was born without that gene.
“I have so many sisters who have beautiful children, and they now have beautiful children,” she continued. “I love being an aunt, I love it more than—probably more than acting, which is odd. They’re on par. But I’m telling you, these are gorgeous children, but that doesn’t have to define every woman.”
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The actor explained that it’s actually because she places so much value and importance on parenthood that she knew it wasn’t for her; having a child is all or nothing, and since she couldn’t give it her all, she chose nothing. “I had a window to have a child, but [at] the end of the day I loved working, and I grew up with great parents who sacrificed everything for me…. And you have to really be committed to having children. You have to be a great parent, and I was afraid I couldn’t be…. I’m fine failing as an actor. I didn’t want to fail at being a parent.” That’s some healthy perspective!
She then told a story that deserves to sit right alongside Cher’s “Mom, I am a rich man” in the pantheon of inspiring quotes from female celebrities: “My mother said, ‘Patty, I just don’t want you to wake up at 50 and be unhappy.’ I woke up at 50 in stilettos and a thong…I’ve had a great sexy-ass life.”