Morena Baccarin and Ben McKenzie's 3 Kids: All About Julius, Frances and Arthur
Morena Baccarin and Ben McKenzie have a full house with their sons and daughter
Morena Baccarin and Ben McKenzie are happily raising three kids together: Julius, Frances and Arthur.
The couple first crossed paths in 2006 when Baccarin appeared on McKenzie’s show The O.C. Years later, in 2015, they shared the small screen when Baccarin joined the cast of Gotham, which McKenzie also starred in.
While sparks flew between their characters, the actors fell in love off-screen. Today, Baccarin and McKenzie are married and parents to Frances and Arthur, plus Baccarin’s son, Julius, from her first marriage.
Related: Ben McKenzie and Morena Baccarin's Relationship Timeline
Baccarin and McKenzie have welcomed their role as parents of three with open arms. In 2015, while awaiting the birth of their daughter, McKenzie expressed his excitement about becoming a dad when speaking with PEOPLE. "It’s something that I’ve wanted for a long time,” he said.
He seemed to nail the job pretty quickly: In a 2018 interview with PEOPLE, Baccarin gushed over McKenzie’s parenting skills. “It’s wonderful to watch him every day with our kids,” she said. “I couldn’t ask for a better partner.”
Over the years, Baccarin and McKenzie have maintained their children's privacy, sharing family photos on social media with their faces hidden. Still, the duo enjoy posting tidbits about what it's like raising their daughter and sons.
Here’s everything to know about Morena Baccarin and Ben McKenzie’s kids: Julius, Frances and Arthur.
Julius Setta Chick, 10
Baccarin and her ex-husband, Austin Chick, welcomed their son Julius Setta Chick on Oct. 22, 2013.
After the actress and film director went their separate ways, they were eventually granted joint custody in 2018. Since then, Julius has primarily grown up in New York City alongside his mom. “I just want him to know that he’s loved," Baccarin told PEOPLE in 2015.
Julius was only about 2 years old when he became a big brother. Ahead of his sister Frances' birth, Baccarin shared how he was helping the pregnancy go smoother.
“It’s more relaxed, you don’t have time to sit there and obsess,” she told PEOPLE in 2015. “With my first one, I felt like it was like, ‘Oh, what’s happening this week?’ ‘What developmental thing?’ ‘What should I be eating?’ [Now] you’re just focusing on your toddler, getting to work and trying to make ends meet. And then it goes by.”
In the same interview, the Deadpool star shared how excited Julius was to have a sibling.
“He talks about the little baby all the time and talks about what things he’s gonna show the baby — very interesting things, like his books and the couch and pictures,” she added.
When Julius was 4 years old, Baccarin reflected on what it was like returning to her job shortly after his birth.
"I felt exhausted and scared to go back to work. I wanted to spend every second with him," she wrote on Instagram in 2018, adding that she brought him to set. "This one goes out to all the moms out there who feel the constant pull between work and children. There are no right answers."
Baccarin keeps Julius and the rest of her children mostly off social media. From the pictures she posts on Instagram, though, he seems close with his sister and brother. In a photo shared around the holidays in 2022, Julius was captured playing in the snow with his siblings and in another shot, he held hands with his brother.
Frances Laiz Setta Schenkkan, 8
Baccarin and McKenzie’s first child together, daughter Frances Laiz Setta Schenkkan, was born on March 2, 2016.
About seven months after her birth, McKenzie talked about his daughter on the daytime talk show Harry and revealed that she was named after his mother. “I love that name,” McKenzie said, noting that they call her Frankie for short.
As she's grown, the actors have shared updates about their daughter, including when she started to speak.
“She’s talking quite a bit, and it’s very sweet,” she told PEOPLE in 2018. “She sounds a little like a caveman at the moment. Everything is me, like ‘me want that too’ or ‘me take that.’ It’s very sweet and it’s so amazing to watch language spark in a little 2-year-old.”
Fast forward, Frances is now more than a little interested in the acting work her parents have both done.
In May 2023, McKenzie made an appearance on Rachel Bilson and Melinda Clarke’s Welcome to the O.C., Bitches podcast, where he revealed that he had allowed then-7-year-old Frances to watch a few episodes of The O.C. because he was jealous she had seen more of Baccarin’s work.
This was something that he quickly joked was a “bad idea.”
“[Frances] of course loves it,” he said. “Like, absolutely loves it. I had to cut it off after two episodes because I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I forgot about the smoking.’ I remembered the drinking."
He went on to say that even though she wanted to watch more, it was “adorable" to watch it with his daughter, albeit a little "weird."
Arthur Schenkkan, 3
Baccarin and McKenzie welcomed their second child together, son Arthur, on March 9, 2021.
The actress announced his birth by sharing a sweet close-up photo of the newborn on her Instagram. “2021 is looking up,” she wrote. “Welcome to the world Arthur. Trust us, you haven’t missed much yet.”
McKenzie shared the same photo with the caption, “Welcome to the world, Arthur. Gotta say, your timing is impeccable.??.”
Three months prior, Baccarin made her pregnancy announcement during an appearance on The Talk. When asked about a picture she posted, which featured McKenzie wearing nail polish and costume jewelry, Baccarin joked that Frances was helping him get ready for the couple’s date night.
After co-host Carrie Ann Inaba said that Baccarin was “glowing,” the actress stood up to show off her baby bump, joking, “I think that date was pretty successful.”
Not surprisingly, the three kids can be a handful. In March 2022, Page Six asked Baccarin how she was juggling being a mom and working, and she responded, “I’m a disaster all the time. I’m happy to have clothes on right now, but people help me. They were zipping me up and putting stuff on my face.”
She went on to say that even though things were “really tough,” she knew it would get better. “I just have to get through these next five years and then it’ll become a little bit more feasible and enjoyable.”
Until then, Baccarin is enjoying watching her children grow up, and her efforts don't go unnoticed. "Happy Mother’s Day to our fearless leader," McKenzie wrote on Instagram in 2023.
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