Elizabeth Banks reveals to PEOPLE the unconventional way she celebrated her Mother’s Day
The Charlie’s Angels alum described her children as “incredible,” adding they are “very good” at getting “cards and flowers”
Banks shares her children with her husband Max Handelman, whom she married in 2003
Elizabeth Banks spent her Mother’s Day exactly how she wanted.
On Monday, May 12, The Better Sister actress, 51, spoke with PEOPLE exclusively at the Amazon Upfront 2025 Red Carpet at the Beacon Theater in New York and revealed how she spent her Mother’s Day. Banks says that while her kids are “incredible,” she was able to celebrate her special day away from them.
“I got to celebrate Mother’s Day by going away for the weekend with my husband, which is exactly what I wanted for Mother’s Day,” she tells PEOPLE. “My kids are incredible. They’re very good about cards and flowers and fun things like that. They didn’t forget or anything. But we were not together on Mother’s Day, and that was fine with me.”
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The Emmy-nominated star welcomed her children with husband Max Handelman, whom she married in 2003. The longtime couple met on Banks’ first day of college in 1992 and celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in 2023. Handelman and Banks’ first son, Felix, arrived in 2011, and their second son, Magnus, was born the following year.
Although the Pitch Perfect star keeps her children out of the spotlight and does not share photos of their faces on social media, she is open about being a working mother.
In October 2023, she spoke to PEOPLE about her thoughts on juggling professional work and parenting.
“I’m not sure that balance is, there’s no balance achievable,” Banks said. “For me, what I’ve come to is letting go of guilt. It’s societal. But you let go of it. And I trust my husband. My husband — just being like, ‘You got it.’ ”
“He’s not going to do it the exact same way that I do it,” Banks added of their parenting style, noting that she’s okay with it. She admitted her key to raising their boys: is “letting go of control.”
JC Olivera/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty
Max Handelman and Elizabeth Banks
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The Pitch Perfect alum also recalls the early days of parenthood when she and Handelman were both beginners. “I was like, ‘What do you mean you don’t know how to swaddle yet? We’re two months in and you can’t swaddle this kid?’” she said, acknowledging that they eventually found their flow in parenting.
“I literally started coming home and being like, ‘The baby’s alive. Great job.’ My standard went to that. I still hope I come home. I’m like, ‘What’d you guys eat?’ He’s like, ‘We went to In-N-Out.’ I’m like, ‘Great. Okay. Don’t care.’”
Banks said she was raised similarly.
“My mom worked and I’m not mad. That’s great. I’m like, great job,” the Emmy winner said. She adds that she and her mom have a “good, loving relationship,” though that wasn’t always the case.
“So really letting go of guilt. It’s been huge for me. Really, truly, it’s allowed me to just be at work and not be worried,” she said.
Read the original article on People
