
The notoriously private actress reveals that she is a grandmother during a very rare interview on the ‘SmartLess’ podcast.
ctress Michelle Pfeiffer has revealed that she and husband David E. Kelley have become grandparents, dropping the bombshell on the hit podcast SmartLess, hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes. The 67-year-old has two children with David; Claudia, 32, and John Henry, 31. She did not divulge which of her children have become parents, but gushed about the joy being a grandmother has brought to her life, while admitting it may curtail her future work commitments. “I don’t have time nor the desire to go that deep for that long and not be present. I realize I have a finite amount of time left and – I might announce on this show – that I became a grandmother last year,” the What Lies Beneath star said.
“I’ve been very quiet about it and it is – it’s heaven. It’s ridiculous. And if I had known that I was going to be a grandmother, I wouldn’t have taken on so much work, but I’ve enjoyed everything and I’m really grateful,” she added. “I’ve loved – I love each of these projects. And so the weird thing is that giving up that angst about the process has freed me up and I feel in some ways has made me better.”
The actress met her husband on a blind date in 1993 and, according to her, it was love at first sight. “I was kind of nervous … and I’d had a couple of bad blind dates and I had sworn off of them, and my best friend said, ‘Please, just this last time, meet this guy, David Kelley,’ and I said okay,” Michelle revealed during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
“I thought it was a good idea to do like a bowling party.”
Michelle reflected on her marriage in an interview with Parade Magazine in 2012. “I got really lucky,” she shared. “I never take him for granted. I’ve never met a person who has more integrity than my husband. I respect that. There’s his humor and intelligence, too, and he’s really cute, all those things, but if you don’t respect your partner, you’ll get sick of him.”
At 67, the new grandmother looks more radiant than ever, and has recently been sporting a fresh-faced, no-makeup look.
Michelle has previously opened up about her beauty regime in an interview on UK TV back in 2021. “It’s what nobody really wants to hear – you have to eat right, you have to exercise, you have to sleep,” she shared.
“We’re always looking for that cheating magical bullet but it’s not right.”
She continued: “When I’m not working, when I’m giving myself leeway, when I’m not eating good, I’m having too much wine, when I’m not on camera, I look like it, that’s really it. “So that’s the big secret – there’s no secret!”
Michelle Pfeiffer surprises fans by revealing she is now a grandmother
Michelle Pfeiffer has revealed she became a grandmother for the first time last year.
The 67-year-old actress has adopted daughter Claudia, 32, and a 31-year-old son called John with her television writer husband David E. Kelley, but she didn’t disclose which of her two children had welcomed a child into the world.
Appearing on the SmartLess podcast, she shared: “I don’t have time nor the desire to go that deep for that long and not be present. I realise I have a finite amount of time left and — I might announce on this show — that I became a grandmother last year.
“I’ve been very quiet about it and it is — it’s heaven. It’s ridiculous.”
The Marvel star – whose upcoming roles include a part in her spouse’s Apple TV+ limited series Margo’s Got Money Troubles – admits she would have reigned in her work hours sooner if she had known she was set to become a grandparent.
Pfeiffer continued: “And if I had known that I was going to be a grandmother, I wouldn’t have taken on so much work, but I’ve enjoyed everything and I’m really grateful.
“I’ve loved — I love each of these projects. And so the weird thing is that giving up that angst about the process has freed me up and I feel in some ways has made me better.'”
The Hairspray actress has largely kept her children out of the spotlight and took a break from her career to bring up her children.
And, she previously admitted she was taken aback by claims she had retired from acting when she was just trying to raise a family.
The First Lady actress reflected on her decision to take a break from Hollywood for around five years after the attention on her and her family made things difficult for her brood when they were growing up.
Recalling her decision to protect her children, she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2022: “[It was] ‘Well, I’ll only shoot in the summer, and I’ll only shoot here, and I’ll only blah, blah, blah, blah,’ and finally it was just too much trouble to hire me.”
Pfeiffer and Kelley moved their family away from Los Angeles, and after five years she was surprised by the way others saw her career.
She added: “I would start to hear that I had retired, and I’d be like, ‘Wait, no.’ ”
The Batman Returns star admitted the move was down to the more challenging aspects of life in the spotlight, and it became even more of an issue with children.
She explained: “I just couldn’t bear seeing photos of me picking them up in carpool for public consumption.
“And then they’d follow me home with them in the car, which was terrifying to me … There were cameras right in their little faces, and it traumatized them.”
Claudia and John didn’t understand their mom’s fame for a while, but that changed when her daughter was in second or third grade, while they were still in Los Angeles.
She recalled: “My daughter came home from school one day, and she said, ‘Mom, I know when someone’s coming up to talk to me because they want to be my friend or because you’re my mom’.
“And I asked, ‘How?’ and she said, ‘Well, if they’re older and they talk to me for too long, it’s not because they want to be my friend.’ ”
Michelle Pfeiffer, 66, packs on PDA with very famous husband for special honor
Michelle and David have been married for over 30 years
ichelle Pfieffer and her husband made a rare public appearance on April 25, as Michelle was honored by Turner Classic Movies with a Hand and Footprint Ceremony.
Michelle and David E. Kelley, the famous television writer and film producer, have been married since 1993, and David was there to cheer on Michelle as she placed her hands and feet in the clay at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
The two were also seen giving each other a kiss
“A total dream come true. Thank you @tcmfilmfest & @chinesetheatres and my incredible team all these years for making this honor happen,” Michelle shared on social media after the ceremony.
Sisters Elle and Dakota Fanning were also in attendance, with both giving a speech paying tribute to Michelle; the sisters starred with Michelle in the 2001 drama I Am Sam, and they have remained close.
The honor comes after five decades of acclaimed work from the 66-year-old, whose break out role was in 1982’s Grease 2. She also starred in Scarface with Al Pacino and in 1989 earned her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Dangerous Liaisons.
In 1990 and 1993 she received two more Best Actress nods for her work in The Fabulous Baker Boys, and Love Field, respectively.
Between those two films Michelle starred in the iconic role of Selina Kyle/Catwoman in 1992’s Batman Returns, and in recent years joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Janet Van Dyne in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp alongside Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas.
Michelle has also been nominated for anEmmy for HBO’s TV movie The Wizard of Lies, and will next be seen on TV alongside Elle in the upcoming drama miniseries Margo’s Got Money Troubles, based on the 2024 novel by Rufi Thorpe, and also produced by David.
That TV series will be the first time the pair have worked together; in 2022, Michelle admitted that she had never worked with her husband because they feared it would be “too risky” for their marriage.
“Nobody writes, honestly, better for women than he does,” she said of her husband on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“It’s unbelievable. And yet, I value our relationship more than a good part, and I just think it’s too risky.”
David and Michelle met in January 1993 when they were set up on a blind date.
They married on November 13, 1993, and on the same day they christened the baby girl Michelle had already been in the process of adopting, Claudia. In August 1994, they welcomed a son, John Henry.
Michelle Pfeiffer Reveals She Became a Grandmother Last Year, Sharing It’s ‘Heaven’ and She’s ‘Really Grateful’
The actress is a mother of two children: daughter Claudia and son John
Michelle Pfeiffer is a grandmother!
During her appearance on the SmartLess podcast, the Marvel actress, 67, shared with hosts Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes that she became a first-time grandma last year. Speaking about her future in acting, Pfeiffer told them that she doesn’t “have time nor the desire to go that deep for that long and not be present” for her family.
“I don’t have time nor the desire to go that deep for that long and not be present. I realize I have a finite amount of time left and — I might announce on this show — that I became a grandmother last year,” she said. “I’ve been very quiet about it and it is — it’s heaven. It’s ridiculous.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/Michelle-Pfeiffer-David-E-Kelley-John-Claudia-Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame-092925-1a760976c07146d190273cb38bea440e.jpg)
“And if I had known that I was going to be a grandmother, I wouldn’t have taken on so much work, but I’ve enjoyed everything and I’m really grateful,” she added. “I’ve loved — I love each of these projects. And so the weird thing is that giving up that angst about the process has freed me up and I feel in some ways has made me better.'”
Pfeiffer didn’t share any additional details about the little one or which one of her children welcomed a baby.
The Maleficent: Mistress of Evil actress shares her daughter, Claudia, 32, and son, John, 31, with her husband, TV writer and producer David E. Kelley. Pfeiffer has kept her children away from the spotlight — she even took a break from Hollywood to focus on her family before making a return to acting once her children grew up.
“I’m an empty nester now,” Pfeiffer told Interview in 2017. “I’ve never lost my love for acting. I feel really at home on the movie set.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(534x0:536x2):format(webp)/Michelle-Pfeiffer-David-E-Kelley-AFI-Life-Achievement-Award-Gala-092925-5cf5b4956df447aba22a2287e48df984.jpg)
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“I’m a more balanced person, honestly, when I’m working,” she continued. “But I was pretty careful about where I shot and how long I was away, whether or not it worked out with the kids’ schedule. And I got so picky that I was unhirable. And then … I don’t know, time just went on … I disappeared, yeah.”
During an appearance on The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast in 2023, the Hairspray actress revealed it was her two children who prompted her to take on more projects again.
“So I remember actually it was my kids,” she recalled. “They said, ‘Mom, are you ever gonna go back to work?‘ I said, ‘What do you mean? Isn’t it great that I’m home?'”