What Liv Tyler learned with age

CEBU, Philippines – Having grown up in the spotlight, Liv Tyler might be one of the most famous women in Hollywood, but when it comes to normal stuff—parenting, aging and juggling the many facets of life—she’s just like us.

In fact, even she—with flawless skin, piercing blue eyes and beautiful hair—admits in her cover story for More magazine that, at 38, aging just really isn’t fun. “Thirty-eight is a crazy number,” she explains. “It’s not fun when you see things start to change.”

More than just the physical changes, she says her career trajectory has also shifted as she’s gotten older. “When you’re in your teens or 20s, there is an abundance of ingénue parts which are exciting to play,” she notes. “But at my age, you’re usually the wife or the girlfriend, a sort of second-class citizen. There are more interesting roles for women when they get a bit older.”

However, with age, Tyler also admits she’s learned quite a bit and changed a few of her beliefs on life for the better. “I had this philosophy that you should only get married once. But then, of course, that changes,” she reveals, addressing her previous marriage to Royston Langdon.

“I definitely believe we have lessons we learn through our relationships. You’re meant to work through and mirror each other. It’s the thing in someone that drives you the most crazy that is maybe a part of yourself somewhere.”

Part of seeing through a failed marriage came with another major realization for the actress that stems across more than just relationships: you don’t have to be perfect.

Asked what’s more important to her today than 20 years ago, Tyler admits, “Not being perfect, my girlfriends, and a glass of wine at the end of the day.”

She adds: “Where you live and what your job is—those things are temporary. It’s your family, no matter where you are, that always exists. Whether someone is alive or dead or near or far, your people are your people.”

Speaking of family, Tyler is busy raising her sons Sailor and Milo alongside juggling her career and her relationship with Dave Gardner.

How does she do it all? “I feel like I’m conducting a giant orchestra, because there’s so many moving parts. It’s like, ‘Over there, you guys do that!’ And then, ‘Over there, you do this! All together now!’” she says.

Despite the craziness of it all, she still loves being a mom. “My favorite thing about being a parent is that I learn so much from the push-and-pull dynamic of mother and child,” she says. “Having children, I learned about my own strength.”