Rachel Bilson has found her co-parenting groove with Hayden Christensen.
The Hart of Dixie star, 39, recently opened up about how she and her ex, 39, are raising their daughter Briar Rose, 6, during the pandemic. "Luckily [my daughter's] dad is pretty hardcore with [the COVID restrictions]," she said on Monday's debut episode of the podcast Betches Moms.
"But you have to trust each other and you are bubbled up," Bilson added, noting that Christensen has spent part of the pandemic in his native Canada.
"But it's also nice because she's had the opportunity to have another house to go and not be stuck in our house the entire time so I'm grateful for that and we've just handled it. Survival mode."
She and Christensen began dating after starring as romantic leads in the 2008 sci-fi film Jumper. They welcomed their only child in October 2014, before calling it quits on their relationship in September 2017.
Although the couple has made an effort to keep Briar out of the public eye, Bilson says their daughter has caught the acting bug. "She's already said she wants to act and I'm like, 'How do we handle this?' " she said. "I think to keep that away from her as long as possible is our top choice… It's not what I would want for her at this age."
Meanwhile, Briar is still oblivious to her mom's second life as Summer Roberts on The O.C. and dad's tenure as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise.
"I think she knows that her mom- — and her dad's an actor too — so she kind of knows that we are in that world," Bilson said. "But she's not aware of that level ... I think she knows he was in Star Wars, but she has no idea what that even means, because she hasn't seen anything. She has an idea but not really. I'd like to keep it that way."
Bilson argued that her The O.C. character probably grew up to be a good mom. When asked if she'd rather parent Summer or let Summer parent Briar, she said, "I would rather have Summer parent my daughter because, by the end of the show, she did like a 180, and I feel like she was kind of a responsible person. It was, like, a full arc. She'll know how to hug a tree!"
She and her former costar Melinda Clarke recently announced a podcast, aptly entitled Welcome To The OC, B—! Premiering April 27, it will consist of more than 100 episodes, with guests like costar Peter Gallagher and The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz.
"It's just a really fun walk down memory lane," she raved of the podcast. "It's good for me because I don't know if I've actually ever seen the show. After I did it I didn't really watch it, so it's kinda fun to go back and watch your life 16 years ago… you're like, 'Holy s—, how much has changed' and how crazy it was. I've seen the first three so far and I'm like, 'This show's actually pretty good!' "
As for whether she'd be down for a reunion, Bilson said, "I would be open to it, of course. I had such a good experience and I'm so grateful for everything."
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