Mae Whitman Has Welcomed Her Newborn Son and Has Named Him After Her ‘Parenthood’ Co-Star
Mae Whitman is welcoming parenthood! The actress announced on Wednesday, August 28, that she is a first-time mom after welcoming her baby boy, whose name has a heartfelt connection. Whitman chose the name Miles after her best friend and actor Miles Heizer. The two played brother and sister Amber and Drew Holt on the beloved NBC family drama series Parenthood from 2010 until 2015.
"Not to be a Bieber about it but I too just gave birth to our son, Miles,” Whitman captioned her post. “From the moment we heard the first tiny sound out of his tiny piggy mouth we were besotted. He is the kindest, gentlest, smartest, funniest little beebee and he’s our best friend (pretty much exactly like his namesake Uncle Miles)."
Whitman expressed her gratitude for everyone who supported her family throughout her pregnancy and delivery.
“Oh man. This is the greatest. So happy for you all!!” commented actress Erika Christensen, who co-starred with Whitman and Heizer as their aunt, Julia Braverman, on Parenthood.
In May, the Good Girls star revealed that she was expecting her first baby on Instagram with a photo of herself smiling alongside Heizer and actress Lauren Graham, who played their mom, Sarah Braverman, on the show.
"Not to make a parenthood episode out of it or anything but!!! Mother’s Day looking a little different this year!" she wrote in the caption. "Can’t wait to meet you, huge baby kicking my insides to filth!”
Whitman also included a few photos from the sixth and final season of Parenthood when her character was pregnant.
Mae Whitman’s childhood as an actress
Whether the new addition to Whitman’s family will follow in his mom’s footsteps remains to be seen, but for the actress, being on screen was a part of growing up. Let's look back at some of her most memorable performances.
Whitman’s first credited role came in 1994 when she played the youngest daughter of Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia in When a Man Loves a Woman.
In 1996, she guest starred in an episode of Friends, where she played Sarah, a young girl scout who Ross accidentally injured and then tried to help sell cookies for.
That same year, Whitman played Bill Pullman’s daughter, Patricia Whitmore, in Independence Day, and as George Clooney's daughter Maggie Taylor in One Fine Day.
In 1998, she delivered a standout performance as the daughter of Sandra Bullock in Hope Floats.
What has Mae Whitman said about being a child actor?
During a virtual appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show in 2021, Whitman told Barrymore she felt that the young characters she had always played were typically wise beyond their years, and that it was refreshing to flip the script and play a more complex character on Good Girls.
This led the two to discuss their similar experiences spending much of their respective childhoods in the entertainment business.
“In some ways, you grow up around adults, and there’s a serious maturity that happens there quickly,” Whitman said. “And luckily, you know, my family was very devoted to trying to keep me a child and made sure that I didn’t feel pressured into doing anything, and they were very cautious about it the whole time.”
On the other hand, she continued, she feels that being so comfortable around and working with adults so often brought her a sense of responsibility very early on in life that many children don’t experience. Whitman even admitted that she never learned to ride a bike and doesn’t consider herself sufficient at basic household tasks like cooking and doing laundry.
“I wouldn't trade it for the world,” she ultimately said of her upbringing.
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