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You said before that your children, Charles and Kit, grounded you. That they are your dose of reality in the unreality of being a movie star.

JF: And you are right. That’s why Mel has so many children (laughs). Really! That is his entire reality. He has seven kids – now he has eight. He has a lot of children. He’s very much a real person who has struggled through real things.

With your sons becoming teenagers, how has motherhood changed for you?

JF: It’s great! Everybody kept saying that when your son hits puberty it’s going to be so difficult, but it’s just fantastic. It’s a whole new relationship; it’s great. He’s taller than I am and (lowering voice) he has a deeper voice (laughs). I think it’s reenergized our relationship in a bit now that he is looking forward to being an adult and trying to figure out what that is.

There’s a part of the movie that touches on the craziness on the celebrity culture and paparazzi. As one of the few in Hollywood who manages to lead a private life and have control of that, what’s your observation on the state of Hollywood’s celebrity today?

JF: It was different when I was growing up. It was different when I was young and I didn’t have those lenses. At least people, normal people, didn’t have those lenses. There was a different philosophy about the separation between news and celebrity. News was not entertainment then. I don’t know that if I was 17 now, I would be an actor. I wouldn’t have said yes. Not if I had all the information at hand, I’m pretty sure I would have said no. I don’t think it is a life. I think that we are seeing the aftermath of that. The aftermath of a lot of empty young people. But that being said, if you are motivated and if you put your foot down and say, “I don’t want to be on a reality show,” you can take charge. It requires a lot of energy and always asking that question, “Who do I want to be? How do I want to live? What do I want to see in myself? What do I want to stand for?” Every decision that you make has to be processed through the consequences of that on your psyche. Most people that are 18, that’s not how they are gonna be. It’s like I always say, people that are in the rock business, you are talking about 17 and 18 year olds. Of course they are going to go into a hotel, take a bunch of drugs and throw things out the window. He is 17! What are you going to do? And if you didn’t have that good parent that sat you down and say (hitting table), “Think about this! Think about that!” You wouldn’t develop those skills.

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