Anyone dying is not easy, but certainly not a mother. Me and my brother, we stuck together. The foster families were good to me, and then my nanny took me in.
My nanny took me in at 12 with my brother, who is a year younger than me. We're the closest brothers you'll ever meet.
My real name is Elizabeth, but I had a nanny growing up who called me 'Elizabeanie.' So from 4 months old, my brothers were, like, 'Let's call her Beanie.' To show people the validity of it, I always say that if I met the president, I would say, 'Hi, my name is Beanie.'
I used to get very, very frustrated by people being told what to do by nanny in Brussels. And I remember once I rang the official who was actually responsible for banning the prawn-cocktail-flavoured crisp, which I think contained a dye called Arithrazine or something like that.
We have a nanny in the house, but there are always times when one of my kids does something bad or wrong, and they'll listen to me more than they do the nanny. So I think it's important to set up that boundary of respect for them at a young age, so they will know, 'I better listen to Mommy.'
I have had moments where I've felt like, 'I'm going to feel a little guilty if I don't put the baby down for her nap today, but I really need to go to that spin class. And that's good for my health and my mental well-being, so I think the nanny can put her down for her nap, and I'm going to be OK with that.'
I think that I'm lucky in that, even at levels where I, by and large, wasn't making enough money to sustain my life, I worked as a male nanny, I waited tables and did what I had to, to keep doing theater and acting.
When its time to go off to work, or work out, I have a great support system: a great nanny and friends who offer to help out whenever they can.
So much were we together that Nanny became almost a part of me. Consequently, it was my occasional encounters with my parents that stand out as the events of the day.
My dad's my nanny, so he spends a lot of time with me in L.A. when my mom's in Atlanta.
