Mum-of-three Liv Tyler has revealed that taking a break from full-time parenting, to follow her other passions, makes her a better mother. Speaking to HELLO! at the Formula E race track in New York, the Lord of the Rings actress, who shares her youngest children Lula, 2, and Sailor, 3, with husband Dave Gardner, and also has a son Milo, 13, from her relationship with Royston Langdon, explained that time away from her family is something she loves - although she then can't wait to get back to her kids.
Liv was Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag’s guest of honour at the final event of the 2018 championship and while she’s not a huge car enthusiast, the 41-year-old actress felt the offer to come along and drive a racing car was one she couldn’t turn down. "In life you get asked to be a part of things sometimes and you just think, 'I really want to have that experience, I want to meet those people and learn about all the innovative things that they’re doing,'" she said.
Liv has two children with husband Dave Gardner
"It’s a mom vacation for me. I really value my time with my children, I’m so grateful that my job allows me to have intensive periods of time when I’m home and intensive periods of time when I’m working so coming here and getting to have that time as a woman for myself, getting to follow my passions and my work is really something I really appreciate.
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"I have this time for me, but then I can’t wait to get home and be a better mother," she explained. "I spend as much time as I can with them as a mother. I’m very hands-on in my home life."
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Liv’s two youngest children ("my babies") are too little to understand that their mum's cool enough to drive racing cars, but she's excited to introduce her bigger boys to the sport. "[The track] looks like my son’s video games," she admits. "David's son Grey would love it. Milo was going to come with me, then he lost interest so he went with his dad to the recording studio but I’ll show them the video [of my lap] that will be great."
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Liv’s performance in the car was impressive – surpassing most of the A-list men who have taken the wheel of Formula E racers in the past. The sport attracts an array of celebs – lured in part by its fabulous eco-credentials. Patrick Dempsey, Rupert Friend, Uma Thurman, Tamara Beckwith and Ellie Goulding were among the fans in town for the New York race weekend. But Liv’s performance behind the wheel stood out.
Liv Tyler had a blast in New York
"She was great!" CEO Alejandro explained. "Chris Hemsworth crashed last year, and Orlando Bloom crashed in Marrakech," he laughed.
"And Patrick Dempsey just crashed," added Liv of the Grey’s Anatomy actor who also raced a lap in one of the electric super cars on Sunday. "I’ve had to learn how to drive properly doing films and working with so many stunt people," she explained. "It sticks with you – things like taking corners, I kind of knew a little bit."
But while the Hollywood star had a blast on the race track and relished some precious me-time away from family duties, there is, of course nothing better, than getting back to her kids. "I love New York and it’s great to be here," the brunette actress admitted. "But London's home and I can’t wait to get back and see the kids."
