Max Greenfield says his 13-year-old daughter is 'really unaffected' by his 'New Girl' fame
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Max Greenfield is best known for his work on shows like The Neighborhood and New Girl, but the actor sank his teeth into a serious new role when the coronavirus pandemic hit: homeschooling dad. In 2020 Greenfield took to social media to document his struggles to help his daughter, Lilly, with her assignments as schools shut down.
"My failure to teach my own children anything was a real learning experience for me," laughs Greenfield, who also shares son Ozzie, 7, with wife Tess Sanchez. "[Lilly's teachers] emailed us a curriculum and they said, 'Go for it.' And I, like an idiot, of course was like, 'Got it! I can do this.'"
Three years on, the TV star says he's still a bit clueless when it comes to helping Lilly, now 13 and in the seventh grade, with her coursework.
"I've found that the things that I was bad at when I was younger, I've gotten worse at," says Greenfield. "My daughter will bring home science homework and I don't understand any of it. I was bad at science when I was a kid and I'm like, 'Lilly, I can't read this, let alone help you understand it.'"
His homeschooling experience has given Greenfield a deeper respect for professional teachers. Ahead of Teacher Appreciation Week (May 8 to 12), he recently surprised a Los Angeles school with a $20,000 donation as part of Paper Mate's new initiative with AdoptAClassroom.org, which supports educators lacking the funds and supplies they need to do their job. In addition to the $20,000 and supplies, Paper Mate will donate $1 from every purchase of its products to teachers in need.
The visit also gave Greenfield the opportunity to introduce young students at the school to his children's books. In addition to acting, he's the author of I Don't Want to Read This Book, This Book Is Not a Present and the upcoming I Don't Want to Read This Book Aloud (out Sept. 19), all illustrated by Mike Lowery. The picture books all acknowledge, in a humorous way, the frustrations many children have with learning to read or pronouncing words the proper way.
"It's really supposed to be utilized as a tool in the classroom for teachers to read it, because you never hear teachers really talking about how frustrating reading can be or 'this is not for me,'" he says. "One of the great things we were able to do with Paper Mate on that day was take the book around into these different classrooms and we were able to watch the teachers get excited about having the books and working with the kids. It was really incredible."
When it comes to his own kids, Greenfield jokes that his parenting style is "struggling."
"I'm the guy who's constantly like, 'I got it,'" he says. "And then my kids will look into my eyes and realize ... they're like, 'He doesn't have it.'"
Being on TV hasn't really given him any cool dad points with his kids or their friends. "Maybe for half a second," he says. "And then they meet me and they're like, 'OK.'" Lilly, he adds, is "really unaffected" by his New Girl fame. (And, for the record, the Greenfield-Sanchez household doesn't have a New Girl-style swear jar. "I don't know that we let it rip, but there's no pay penalty," he says.)
"She started to watch it," Greenfield, who earned an Emmy nomination playing Schmidt on the Fox sitcom, shares. "She was kind of into it and then she's like, 'This is just too weird.' ... She has a really healthy relationship towards it. ... She literally grew up on the set, so it's been a part of her life. It's so normal to her. So she gets that people might get excited at first, but ultimately, you know, you're at school and it's just another dad there. Just another dork."
The teen also "feels a connection" to Greenfield's current sitcom, The Neighborhood, which has been renewed for a sixth season on CBS. Before the pandemic, the show was taped in front of a live studio audience, with co-star Cedric the Entertainer whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Lilly, he adds, would come by and serve as a page on the show. "She would have the best time," he says, noting that the experience helped "demystify" what he does for a living.
As a dad, Greenfield says the challenges "work in waves." Allow him to explain: "Something new hits you and you go, 'Whoa, I don't know how to deal with this.' And then just as soon as you sort of accept it and sort of find a way to deal with it, another wave hits." He laughs. "It's constantly changing and moving. You really just have to be agile with it."
What wave is he dealing with at the moment? "I think the biggest thing right now, especially with a 13-year-old, is just finding the balance between 'what's my responsibility?' and 'where do I need to just sort of let go and let this be and understand that this is not for me to control or be a part of?'" But unlike a lot of parents, he has managed to master (to some degree) the art of talking to a teen.
"The good thing about Los Angeles — a lot of people think it's also the bad part too — is you're driving a lot. And so if you can take advantage of those car rides and and get a little conversation in ... " he says. "You have to know how to get into it, and there's some days where it's just not happening. But if you can sort of navigate a way into it, I find that they want to open up, they want to talk. You've just gotta let them go, and just pick your moments and don't mess up the question."
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