Halle Berry Says She 'Doesn't Expect to Influence' Who Her Kids Become: 'Just Want Them to Be Them'

The actress is a mom to daughter Nahla Ariela, 16, and son Maceo-Robert, 10

Halle Berry is getting candid about her role as a mom.

On Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Oscar-winning actress, 58, opened up about her perspective on motherhood at a roundtable event for her new movie Never Let Go in New York City. Berry, who is mom to daughter Nahla Ariela, 16, and son Maceo-Robert, 10, explained that she tapped into her own experience as a mom to play her role as a protective mother in the film.

She shared that in real life, "I am pretty mama bear, but I don't think I'm too mama bear, because I really, really, really understand that I'm just the vessel to bring these kids here."

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Related: Halle Berry Admits a ‘Little Part’ of Her Was ‘Dying’ When Daughter, 16, ‘Got Her Heart Broken’ for the First Time

Berry continued to detail what she expects from her little ones and what she believes her duties are as a mom. "I don't expect them to be clones of me, do what I do. I don't expect to really influence who they become," she began. "My job is to just hold space for them and nurture them, feed them, take care of them, provide them different opportunities, but then they have to decide for themselves."

Playing the character "affirmed what I feel like I already knew," the mom of two said. "I am pretty protective. I fight for them. If something needs to be fought for for them, I'm going to do it. But I also can't wait until they grow up and have their own life and I can't wait to see who they'll become and what they'll do."

She added, "And even if it's not what I want them to do — I don't even know. I just want them to be them. There's no spin on it."

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"Anything they do will make me proud as long as they do it. I don't want them to stay home and stay stuck to me. I don't want them to depend on me," she said. "I hope I'm infusing them with enough gumption and giving them enough tools to out into the world and make their own way. Whatever that is, I'm going to be proud."

In August, Berry's The Union costar Mark Wahlberg commended her on her ability to prioritize her children, stating that above all, she's a "mom first."

"The kids are the top priority... to see that she can balance all of those things and this career and being Halle Berry, but becoming [her The Union character] Roxanne, and doing all these things. And I know it's not easy, but she makes it look easy."

Despite focusing on her children, Berry emphasized that being a mom is not her only identifier.

"Part of being a mom doesn't mean that I'm just a mom, that that defines me," the mother of two said. "I'm still an artist. I'm still a woman. I still have aspirations outside of being a mother. And so I love that they know that I'm me. Before I was a mom, I was me. And I try to stay connected to that so that my life doesn't turn into, 'I'm only a mom.' That's a wonderful part of who I am, but it's a part of it. I try not to lose the other parts of myself."

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