Why Busy Philipps Is Totally Understanding of Her Daughter's Uncomfortable Reaction to Seeing Her in 'Mean Girls'

Busy Philipps plays Regina George’s uber-cool mom in the Mean Girls remake, and as iconic as Mrs. George is, the way the actress handled her daughter’s uneasy reaction to her role proves she’s a much more awesome mom in real life.

On Wednesday, Philipps appeared on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna and shared that Mean Girls is the very first project her 10-year-old daughter Cricket has seen her act in. While she flawlessly breathed new life into Amy Poehler’s beloved character, Philipps opined that she’s not the “cool mom” in reality.

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The White Chicks alum explained her personal approach to motherhood, sharing, “I think I’m an incredibly communicative mom. And I’m really open to letting my kids have their own autonomy.” Philipps continued, “It’s hard when you grow up and your mom is in the spotlight and you feel like you have to share your mom. Or people have an idea of who your mom is. And it’s really important to me that they get me and also that they get to be themselves.”

The mom of two went on to explain the different dynamics each of her daughters has with her identity as an actress. Philipps began, “I think it’s really complicated. And we just try to talk about it. For Birdie, who really grew up on the set of CougarTown — she was 6 months old when I did the pilot and she was 8 when we stopped filming the show — she gets it more than Cricket, who really hasn’t been around me as an actor.” She added, “And sitting in the theater for Mean Girls for the premiere was the first time Cricket, I realized, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s never seen me in anything!'”

Of her pre-teen’s reaction to watching her perform on screen for the first time, Philipps said, “I saw her face and she goes, ‘This is weird.’ And so we talked about it the next day and I was like, ‘You know, was that too much for you? Did you not like it?’ And she’s like, ‘I don’t think I want to watch things you’re in. It was weird.’ And I was like, ‘I get it.'”

Someone hand Philipps the Understanding Mom of the Year award! She deserves the imaginary accolade even more after sharing Cricket’s hilarious follow-up comment. While battling laughter, the He’s Just Not That Into You actress added, “She’s like, ‘Luckily you’re not in the movie that much.’ … She loved the rest of the movie! She was like, ‘I can just skip forward.'” Ah, kids and the nonchalant way they deliver the most scathing takes — like Philipps, we just can’t help but laugh!

The Freaks and Geeks alum shares both Cricket and her 15-year-old daughter Birdie with her ex-husband, Marc Silverstein. While Cricket is rather unsettled by the side of her mom she’s recently discovered, Birdie seems at ease with Philipps’ career, as she frequently attends red carpet events with her mom. In fact, the teen has even made her own acting debut. With age, perhaps Cricket’s perspective will change — and if not, Philipps is completely okay with her daughter’s point of view.

These celebrity kids are giving their parents a humbling reality check by having zero interest in their movies.

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