Anthony Edwards, star of ER and the new movie Motherhood

I was lucky enough to be one of several “mommy bloggers” this weekend who were invited to interview E.R. star Anthony Edwards about his upcoming movie Motherhood, as well as his organization, Shoe4Africa.org (more on that later.)

First go the website and watch the trailer. http://www.motherhoodthefilm.com/ and then tell me if this doesn’t look like a typical day at the office for SAHMs…well for those that live in NYC.  But, there are moments we can all relate to.  And it’s great to finally see a movie being made these days that focuses entirely on the adventure of parenting, instead of having the fact revealed through backstory in a formulaic action movie.  The film was written and directed by Kathleen Deickmann (Diggers, A Good Baby) and stars Uma Thurman, Anthony Edwards and Minnie Driver, and is due out Oct. 23rd.

Edwards, who stars as Uma’s good-natured but absent-minded husband, is for the most part, a stay-at-home father of four. He’s had that luxury (if that’s what you want to call it) since his long-running gig on ER ended about 4 years ago.  And he likes it that way. “In fact,” he says, “the work doesn’t fufill me as much as being with the kids.”  His kids are his priority.  In fact, during this interview he was actually pushing his 7-yr-old daughter’s bike to the bike shop to fix a flat.

Edwards took a break from full time parenting to make this movie because he wanted to be involved in a movie that doesn’t trivialize or generalize parenting, but instead embraces its complexity.  “It felt very organic and real. It reminded me of what the dynamic of  the family is like…in a way I haven’t seen on film before.”  

He also thoroughly enjoyed working with the young actors in the film. “The funny thing about little kids on the set is that they know everybody’s line…theirs and yours as well. In fact, you can sometimes see them mouthing the lines along with you. And if you miss anything they look at you like, ‘What’s wrong with you”’?

Edwards, having been raised by a strong mom, and now surrounded by strong women, has nothing but respect for women, and mothers, in particular.  All of which may have inspired him to get involved with the Shoe 4 Africa organization which, for one thing, works to empower African women to take leadership roles. 

The organization is also raising money to build the first public hospital in Kenya, which will serve 22 million people. His first fundraising event takes place November 1st when he runs the New York City Marathon. The idea is to get 500,000 people to donate $10. That’s what it will take. Sounds doable doesn’t it?  Go to their website here http://community.shoe4africa.org/ learn more about it and donate via Pay Pal.

Back to his role as real life father, what’s Anthony Edwards best tip for dads?  “Remind yourself there’s so much to learn and it’s okay to ask questions and figure out a better way to do things. There is no handbook. The parent I try to be is one who tries hard not to lose his temper. It can be a frustrating job, but my frustrations have nothing to do with what my child is going through.”