Thandie Newton On Parenting: I Try To Be A Mirror

Thandie Newton has two daughters – Ripley, 11, and Nico, 7 – with her director husband Ol Parker. The actress recently talked about her unconventional parenting methods - she says she has no hard and fast rules when it comes to discipline, but instead tries to teach her children with her own behavior.

"I try to be a mirror instead of impressing myself on them all the time," she explained. "I take responsibility for my actions, explain to them, 'The reason I'm rushing is' or 'It's not your fault I'm upset.'

"But if I come across even remotely annoyed with them, I do get, 'All right mommy' and I think, 'Jesus, you have no idea what real rage is.'"

The RocknRolla star also talked about her daughters' penchant for "dressing up" and being in the spotlight. "They're into styling more than fashion. Dressing up. I wasn't like that when I was younger. Not at all," she says. "I was in a lot of denial about my appearance when I was younger so I certainly wouldn't have wanted to draw attention to myself. Maybe I'm making up for it now."