Patricia Heaton Opens Up About Juggling Acting Career And Motherhood

Patricia Heaton is quite possibly the most famous TV mom of the last two decades, but at home she tries to be just the average mother to her 15-year-old and 20-year-old sons.

The 56-year-old actress has won Emmys for her work on Everybody Loves Raymond and currently stars as another television matriarch on The Middle, but said she’s done her best to keep her kids from the chaos of the show business scene.

“There’s too many kids who grow up as the children of celebrities who cannot find their own identities,” Heaton said, adding that one of her sons is interested in becoming an actor.

Patricia Heaton herself said she has avoided the show business lifestyle, not even moving to Los Angeles until she was in her 30s.

“And it’s not like I moved here and I was (supermodel) Kate Upton,” she says.

Heaton is now starring in the family-friendly movie Moms’ Night Out, which is actually something of a family affair. Patricia’s husband of 23 years, David Hunt, has a supporting role as an exasperated cab driver.

Patricia said she and her husband have been able to keep their marriage grounded and relish their moments of quiet amid a busy schedule.

“I’ll be so angry at my husband, and then 15 minutes later, I’ll say, ‘I’m running out to the dry cleaners. Is there anything you need?’ It’s just men and women… that was a bad idea whoever came up with that,” she jokes.

But Patricia said her “didn’t want to come out to the premiere” of the new movie. In fact, they’re not too interested in living through their mother.

“They don’t watch The Middle. They are too busy with their lives.”

Patricia Heaton said she prefers it that way.