Justin Timberlake understands how overwhelming fame can be to a child — he was 12 when he became a Mouseketeer on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club. Now, he’s worried how his fame will impact his children’s lives.
Speaking with Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast Monday, the “Cry Me a River” singer opened up about the struggles of maintaining a balanced life for sons Silas, 5, and newborn Phineas, whom he shares with wife Jessica Biel.
“I try to be conscious of making sure we can live a life where we’re not weirdly private but we’re conscious of making sure they can be kids for as long as possible and not have the weight of somebody else treating them differently because of something that their parents do,” explained Timberlake, 39.
Shepard, who is married to Frozen 2 star Kristen Bell, echoed Timberlake’s concerns about fame potentially interfering with his daughters’ ability to make real friends. Shepard is the dad of six-year-old Delta and seven-year-old Lincoln.
“I have that great fear that kids are going to hang out with them solely because of [our careers] or resent them because of that,” said Shepard, who said he had to tell his daughters not to reveal their mom’s connection the Frozen franchise because they could possibly “make other kids jealous and they won’t know how to handle that feeling.”
Timberlake, who voices Branch in the animated franchise Trolls, expressed that some of Silas’ classmates have already figured it out.
“The kids at school with my five-year-old are like, ‘Your dad is Branch,'” the 10-time Grammy winner explained. “For guys like us, you know, the hope is that we just keep instilling in them that we got really fun jobs, but it’s not who we are.”