Rachel Bilson Opens Up About Struggles Of Co-Parenting With Ex Hayden Christensen

During a recent interview with People Magazine, Rachel Bilson opened up about the struggles of co-parenting her 3-year-old daughter, Briar Rose, with her ex Hayden Christensen.

The former O.C. star is certainly keeping busy with her role in the series called Take Two on ABC. Bilson plays the role of Sam Swift who was formerly a star of a hot cop television series before having a breakdown – on air – and getting sent to rehab. In a desperate attempt to start over, Swift teams up with a private investigator named Eddie Valetik.

In addition to her role on this ABC series, she’s also in the midst of remodeling her home. Bilson, however, made it clear that being a mother to her daughter was her first priority regardless of how busy she is.

“Being a mom is No. 1 for me and it always will be,” the 36-year-old actress told People Magazine as she opened up about balancing parenting and her career. “Anything I choose to do for work has to be something I really want.”

Instead of hiring a nanny, Rachel relies on her mother to help watch her daughter while she’s working.

The news of Rachel and Hayden splitting up came as somewhat of a shock to fans of the couple when Us Weekly first broke the story as the couple had been dating for a decade. An inside source told Us Weekly the couple had been “on the outs” for a few months now, so the split was less shocking to those close to them.

While Rachel and Hayden did take the occasional opportunity to gush over each other on social media and during interviews, they were notoriously private about their relationship despite being together for so long. Rachel told People Magazine she and Christensen were still trying to figure out the best way to co-parent their daughter.

“It’s a tricky one. And I don’t know that there is any right way, necessarily,” she admitted to People.

“We say Mommy has a house and Daddy has a house but she’s pretty young to have an in-depth conversation,” Bilson said as she explained how they handled discussing the break-up with their daughter. “Most important for me is that Briar is okay and secure and stable. No matter what I’m dealing with or how much it hurts or how much anger there is, it’s just about her.”

The actress also admitted that she’s able to draw both inspiration and strength from her mother Janice Stango who divorced her father, Danny Bilson, when Rachel was just 9-years-old.