Greta Gerwig says her son has ‘moments of high drama’: ‘That’s from me’

The director shares two children with partner Noah Baumbach

Kate Ng
Sunday 09 July 2023 10:54 BST
Comments
Trailer for The Barbie Movie

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Greta Gerwig has joked that she knows where her four-year-old son Harold Ralph gets his penchant for “high drama” from: his mother.

The Barbie director, 39, opened up about her family life in a new interview, recalling that her and partner Noah Baumbach’s eldest child will sometimes “fall to the floor” during his more theatrical moments.

Speaking to the Guardian, she recalled: “He did this the other day. I wasn’t able to make him breakfast instantly, because I was feeding my three-month-old and he fell to the floor, weeping, and said, ‘I’m having a sorely trying day. It’s already a problem’.

“I was like, ‘Oh, such drama’. But also, like, ‘Oh, that’s from me’. That’s my level of grandiose. And the part of him that’s more watchful, I think, ‘Oh, that’s Noah, that’s nice’.”

Gerwig, who welcomed her second child with Baumbach earlier this year, said that she doesn’t “get bored” of working at home with her whole family present.

“It’s all in there together. Nobody in the family escapes the intermingling,” she said.

When asked about her relationship with Baumbach, 53, Gerwig said the film director is her “favourite person to work with”.

“His opinion matters the most to me,” she said. “I love making him laugh. It’s the best feeling. When he watches a cut and something makes him really laugh, I’m, like, ‘Got it!’”

She also described herself as an “extrovert”, whereas her partner is an “introvert”.

Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach attend the "White Noise" UK premiere during the 66th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall on October 06, 2022
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach attend the "White Noise" UK premiere during the 66th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall on October 06, 2022 (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images f)

“I fling myself at life, he kind of… takes his time,” Gerwig said. “You know, underneath it all, we both just love movies and art.”

Gerwig and Baumbach met in 2010 on the set of his film Greenberg, which he directed and co-wrote with his wife at the time, Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Five months after the film premiered, Baumbach and Leigh divorced. According to The New Yorker, Gerwig was not a contributing factor to the couple’s divorce.

Baumbach collaborated once again with Gerwig on the 2012 film Frances Ha, which they co-wrote. The pair became romantically linked around this time after a Los Angeles Times article called them a “real-life couple”.

Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach attend the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach attend the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 (Getty Images)

They prefer to keep their relationship under wraps, but made their red carpet debut as a couple at the Golden Globe Awards in 2018. They arrived on the carpet together and wore matching black outfits.

Gerwig revealed that she went into labour with their first child 24 hours after finishing the rough cut of her film Little Women. She announced her second pregnancy during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in December last year.

Gerwig and Baumbach are currently awaiting the release of their latest collaboration, Barbie, which premieres on 21 July.

The film stars Margot Robbie as the title character, Ryan Gosling as Ken, as well as a slew of other famous names (such as Issa Rae and Michael Cera) who appear as various iterations of Barbie and Ken.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in