8 Celebrity Dads on Marriage After Kids

The arrival of kids comes with a seismic shift to every facet of your life, especially your marriage. Couples must react to the new pace of life and work out new ways to keep relationships intact. This is the same for celebrities, too, and many famous fathers have discussed their relationships in the context of fatherhood. Here are eight celebrity fathers who we think nailed something about striking that balance, or simply shared some truth we think is worthwhile.

Dwyane Wade: It’s Not Always Easy, But We Always Try to Make it Work

“I think the biggest thing with me and my wife, what we’ve always tried to do in our short period of time, especially being married, is just to stay in constant communication with each other, try to support each other in everything. And it’s tough at times,” Dwyane Wade said to Entertainment Tonight in 2020. “That’s common. But you know what? We love each other, we try to make it work. But I would tell people out there it’s definitely not easy when you got two people who have their own careers, their own individual brands, and you’re trying to have your own family and own life. But you know, we definitely try to make it work. I always ask my wife for advice. I’m not that guy who feels like he knows everything.”

John Krasinski: Family Is Always First

“Family comes first no matter what, and that’s non-negotiable. We have been working a lot this year and we feel so blessed, but at the same time our kids come first and being together comes first,” John Krasinski revealed in a 2018 interview with People. “[Being with them] is not a job or a duty, it’s something I just can’t wait to do. We always make time to see each other.”

David Beckham: There Are Ups and Downs. But There’s Always Love.

“We know each other better than anybody. People have talked about, ‘Do we stay together because it’s a brand?’ Of course not. We stay together because we love each other, because we have four amazing children,” David Beckham told BBC Radio 4 in 2017. “… Do you go through tough times? Of course. That’s part of relationships. It’s part of marriages. It’s part of having children. It’s part of having responsibilities.”

Dax Shepard: Good Relationships Are Labor Intensive

“We don’t believe in The One,” Dax Shepard told Us Weekly in 2017. “We don’t believe in the fairytale. We don’t believe that you can meet someone and you have perfectly matching personalities, We are opposites and it has taken a tremendous amount of work and therapy for us to coexist. My only fear is that people see us and think, ‘Oh, I just need to find my Kristen Bell.’ That’s not true. You’ll find your Kristen Bell. But guess what? Now the work starts. [Relationships] are labor intensive. If you want them to last they are labor intensive.”

As for how they make their busy schedules work as actor parents? “…We’ve been incredibly lucky for whatever reason that we’ve kind of both teeter-tottered back and forth. When I was shooting CHIPS she happened to have a lot of free time. And then she was doing Bad Moms and her TV show at the same time I had some time off. So we’ve gotten strangely lucky. But the family rule is no more than two weeks apart no matter what. There isn’t an excuse.”

John Legend: The Foundation of Our Marriage Was There

“[Chrissy] is so good [at parenting]. She’s so attentive, she’s so loving and she also has a great sense of humor about it all. It was already the three of us with Luna and it’s really fun bringing someone new into that and giving him so much love and seeing Luna show him so much love, too,” Legend said before the birth. It’s been fun watching [my daughter] become a big sister… [Chrissy and I] really love and respect and admire each other,” John Legend told Today in a 2018 interview. “I think that’s the foundation of who we are as a couple and we actually enjoy each other’s company. My wife makes me laugh all the time. I make her laugh occasionally. Everyone knows she’s funnier than I am.” — John Legend

Ryan Reynolds: “We’re Very Conscious of Being Present as Parents”

“[Blake and I] are very conscious of being very present as parents. I come from a big family and so does Blake, and we want to create a very warm and happy environment for our children. I’m a little more sentimental [now.] I can lay it on pretty thick,” Ryan Reynolds told Today in a 2018 interview. “I’ve always been sentimental, since I was a kid. Having a family means that you stop worrying about a lot of stupid things and you start focusing on the present.”

Ashton Kutcher: My Relationship With My Wife Always Comes First

“The number one thing I work on in the entire world is my relationship with my wife and my relationship with my kids. It’s the most important factor and thing that I have in life. I made a really a good decision not to have young children before I was pretty established with my career, which not everybody can do. But if you can afford to do it, I think it’s pretty wise because you do have to take your foot off the pedal a bit, especially if you’re an entrepreneur and just starting up,” Kutcher told Entertainment Tonight in 2018. “It’s risky. One thing I do is schedule my intimate life. I schedule my time with my kids. I make those blocks, hard and fast in my calendar, and I don’t move them. I come home, I put my phone away, I don’t work when I’m with my kids and when I go to sleep, I don’t take my phone. I’m really, really diligent.”

Mark Wahlberg: We Just Want to Raise Our Kids Right

“I owe a lot to my wife. She has helped me become the man that I am and created a beautiful life for me and our children. I also knew that she loved me for who I am and that she was someone I could trust,” Wahlberg told The Sun in 2018. “Until I met her, I wasn’t ready to have a family. You need the right woman in your life and that feeling that you’re going to be together for a long time. That’s especially important if you’re going to have children.

Rhea always wanted to be a mother. She had a job, but her mission in life was to be a mother and to be a wife. We share the same values. Obviously, the physical attraction was there, but that’s not what keeps a couple together. My mission in life is to raise my kids right. With all the success I’ve had in the world, if I fail at that, my life means nothing. I always try to instill in them as many positive values as I can and also try to lead by example in terms of working hard and being a good husband who takes his commitment to his family very seriously.”