Celebs Who Have Kids That Nobody Knows About
Can a secret ever be kept in Hollywood? It seems that the lives of celebrities are constantly at the forefront of every magazine and tabloid, no matter if they're flaunting a new figure or have a new significant other on their arm. And when it comes to families, certain celebs are so public that it feels like we follow every waking moment from bump to birth.
But then there are some celebrities that keep their personal lives totally off-limits. Staying out of the limelight — and, most importantly, keeping their family away from paparazzi as well — is so important to them, that sometimes you won't even know that they got married, were pregnant, or had a baby until months after the fact. While some are public about their reasoning to keeping somewhat off-the-grid, others choose not to speak about it at all. These celebrity couples have done their very best to keep an iron lock on their personal lives and to keep their children as far away from the spotlight as they can.
Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley
While you may know him as the buff and hunky Mad Max, Tom Hardy is also a proud papa! He and wife, actress Charlotte Riley, welcomed a baby in October 2015 and there has still (as of this writing) been no announcement of the name or sex of the child. While Hardy has another child, a son named Louis from a previous relationship, this was Hardy's first child with Riley. In June 2018, rumors started circulating that they are reportedly expecting a second child.
Hardy is known to keep a very low profile and is adamant that he prefers having a normal life with his family than to living the quintessential celebrity lifestyle. In an interview with GQ, Hardy said that he had "no desire to be a star. I'd like to be normal." He also explained in the interview, "I want to go down to the shop and get my milk, come back, be part of the human race. That's it. I just want to be any normal man with my family."
Kate Winslet and Ned Rocknroll
Many were stunned when actress Kate Winslet announced that, at 37, she was pregnant with her third child (her first with husband Ned Rocknroll), but Winslet and Rocknroll were over the moon. In an interview with This Morning, Winslet explained, "We don't have any social media at all. ...It's as simple as that," she said, adding that social media is "a tricky world."
And, while the birth of her third child — a son named Bear, whom she named after a childhood friend — was kept very under wraps, she did offer up some insight to Glamour UK (via People ), explaining why she prefers to lead a life of normalcy. "The reality is I absolutely love my little life... I trundle along; we have friends over; I make dinner. Sure, I could have lots of people who do the cooking, the driving, all that jazz — but I would be unhappy. I wouldn't want my children raised that way."
She wants to ensure that her children have a normal childhood like she had, "where you climb trees and graze your knee." Proof that Winslet is not only an incredible celebrity, but a superstar mom.
Donald Glover
Donald Glover, the genius actor and musician also known as Childish Gambino, has always stayed out of the spotlight. And it seems that's the way he likes it, too. Not only did no one know he had a girlfriend, but that fact only came to light when it was revealed that they had a child together. His girlfriend's name wasn't even known to the public for a long time (we now know it's Michelle).
Glover only announced the sex of the baby when he accepted his award at the 2017 Golden Globes, stating "I really want to say thank you to my son, and the mother of my son, for making me believe in people again, and things being possible. So thank you." It wasn't until June 2017 that Glover revealed his first son's name, Legend, during his Governor's Ball performance. Later that same year at the Emmys, he also revealed that he and Michelle were expecting a second son. Glover sure likes to make sneaky reveals as he's receiving awards!
Zoe Saldana and Marco Perego
It's difficult to not be photographed when you're an actress in Hollywood — especially if you're trying to hide a bump! But actress Zoe Saldana did just that, surprising everyone when she took to Instagram to reveal that she has had a third son, Zen. The Guardians of the Galaxy actress made sure that none of their faces are seen, making her a protective mama bear to her three beautiful children.
Looking at Saldana's Instagram, it's clear that she will not post any photos of her children head-on; rather, she'll post photos of her boys with their heads turned, or an artsy shot of them from the neck down. She gives a world just a taste of her life, and it seems to be working out perfectly!
Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer
We know them as Sookie and Bill on the HBO series True Blood, but in real life Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer are husband and wife. After keeping their romance top secret, they decided to finally reveal that they were an item in February 2009, intentionally waiting to ensure that the cast and crew didn't think their relationship was a spectacle of any sort.
Another thing that they didn't exploit? The fact that they were pregnant — with twins! Though Moyer did confirm to Us Weekly that they were expecting, stating that "having two more is just going to be even more crazy, but that's cool!" the couple kept a relatively low profile during their everyday lives in regards to Paquin's pregnancy.
After the twins arrived in September 2011, Paquin was angered by the paparazzi who were intent on revealing their faces. After a tabloid magazine published photos of her children online, she tweeted about the incident. It seems Paquin will continue to advocate for her children's — and her own — privacy in the media.
Heather Morris and Taylor Hubbell
Although she played a high school student on Fox's Glee not too long ago, Heather Morris is far from being a teenager. She gave birth of her son, Elijah, in September 2013 with now-husband Taylor Hubbell. She kept most of her pregnancy details hidden from the media, but told Us Weekly, "When you stress out, it's a lot harder," when speaking about trying to keep calm throughout the months of her growing bump.
You won't find Morris in the tabloids when it comes to marrying her high school sweetheart, either. Opening up about her then-upcoming nuptials, Morris told Us Weekly, "It's just more exciting between us. Just like the future plan was, we always wanted to get married. We've been looking forward to having a huge, fun reception." Morris and Hubbell have since tied the knot, having friends and family — and no paparazzi — there for their special day.
Scarlett Johansson and Romain Dauriac
Scarlett Johansson is a big time celebrity, whether she's kicking butt as Black Widow in The Avengers or having an audience fall in love with her character as Charlotte in Lost In Translation, hers is a household name. But you rarely see Johansson's face in the tabloids, and that's exactly how she likes it. In an interview with Barbara Walters on ABC News, she explained how she tries to manage keeping her personal life private. "You know, I live a pretty low-key lifestyle," Johansson said. "I always hold my cards sort of close to my chest when it came to my private life."
So private, in fact, that in an interview with Vanity Fair, she didn't even reveal that she was expecting a child with her then-husband, Romain Dauriac. She did end up telling the magazine just how much she despises social media, though. "All of it drives me crazy," she said, when talking about the digital world. So when Johansson gave birth in September of 2014, she kept things fairly quiet and normal for her daughter.
In her interview with Walters she explained that she does everything herself when it comes to her little one. "It's wonderful and exhausting. You know, the love is just unbelievable, it's very overwhelming. I do the whole bit. I'm nursing, and I love it." While the tabloids do sometimes capture Johansson with her daughter, it's not frequent — keeping the things she loves close to her chest, for certain!
Evan Rachel Wood and Jamie Bell
You may know Evan Rachel Wood as the demure-but-fierce Dolores in HBO's Westworld, but in real life, she's still demure and fierce, but she's also a mom, welcoming a child with then-husband, actor Jamie Bell.
When she became pregnant, Wood realized that people wanted details revealed about her pregnancy and, once she gave birth, her child. "People obviously knew I was pregnant — can't hide that — so I have no problem talking about the baby and that we're doing really well," she said in an interview with The Daily Beast. "But I haven't released his name. I've done my best to keep his picture from being taken, just because kids don't really have a choice in the matter. It's such a shame when kids get harassed just because of who their parents are before they're old enough to decide who they are or who they want to be."
And there might be a reason why she's kept her family hush-hush: Wood herself was a childhood star, and wants to ensure that she protects her child from the pitfalls of being in the media. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Wood said, "Any child actor will tell you that you don't have a lot of the tools or the experience to combat a lot of the criticism or very adult situations being thrown at you." Keeping her son, whose name has yet to be revealed, out of the limelight seems to be working out just fine.
Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman
Anne Hathaway is a brilliant actress and singer, but at home she is only known as mom. She and her husband, actor and producer Adam Shulman, welcomed their son into the world in March 2016, according to E! News. Along with their low-key lifestyle, the couple gave him a fairly common and unpretentious name: Jonathan.
After Hathaway gave birth, photos of her little baby boy were not seen and she kept her personal life away from mainstream media outlets. Then in March 2017, Hathaway gave a speech at the United Nations regarding paid parental leave for International Women's Day, and, in an Instagram post on her page, posted a photo of her son watching her interview on a laptop. She captioned the photo "JRS watching Mommy give her speech at the UN yesterday," but later on, in an interview with Jezebel, she explained how she deeply regretted publicly showing off her son.
"I had never posted a photo of my son, and I decided to post a shot of the back of his head, and almost as soon as I'd done it, I wished that I hadn't," she said. "I felt like I had broken some kind of a seal inviting people into my life. And even though I felt as though I had done it in as protective a way as I could, even though it was a moment I was incredibly proud of, I don't know that I'll ever do it again."
Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger
Michelle Williams is most famous for her role as Jen Lindley on Dawson's Creek, but plays an even bigger role in her personal life: mom. In 2005, she and the late Heath Ledger had a daughter, named Matilda. Life with Matilda was always quiet with Williams and Ledger. Even when after three years of dating and two years of being parents they decided to decided to split, they still did everything they could to give their daughter a normal life. When Ledger tragically died just a few months later, it was up to Williams to keep her daughter out of the press from then on.
In an interview with The New York Post, Williams was very candid about why she left her home in Brooklyn for a time and why she has actress Kristen Bell to thank for helping keep Matilda's life out of the spotlight. "We left Brooklyn and lived in the country for six years because it was an intolerable state of existence," Williams said, noting that it has gotten a lot better since her "personal hero, Kristen Bell, lobbied websites and magazines to no longer publish photos of children."
Williams went on, explaining how this changed everything. "Then Kristen Bell waved her magic wand and she got them to see the human side of it, and the market for pictures of these children diminished. It has changed our lives. I e-mail [Bell] once every couple of months and say, 'I owe you everything. My daughter's happiness is in your hands.'"