--- title: Kate Beckinsale Explains Co-Parenting With Michael Sheen description: Kate Beckinsale explained how she manages co-parenting her daughter with ex, Michael Sheen. canonical: https://time.com/4608979/kate-beckinsale-co-parenting-michael-sheen/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-21T15:43:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:11.842Z og:title: How Kate Beckinsale Peacefully Co-Parents With Her Ex og:description: It involves ‘not hating’ him og:url: https://time.com/4608979/kate-beckinsale-co-parenting-michael-sheen/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte37c34d0b3c683fb/6988b3ad428a9e29f9cd5555/kate-beckinsale-parenting-secrets.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 'Underworld: Blood Wars' Photocall In Berlin og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Kate Beckinsale Peacefully Co-Parents With Her Ex twitter:description: It involves ‘not hating’ him twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte37c34d0b3c683fb/6988b3ad428a9e29f9cd5555/kate-beckinsale-parenting-secrets.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Kate Beckinsale Peacefully Co-Parents With Her Ex by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 21, 2016 3:43 PM UTC  BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 22: Actress Kate Beckinsale attends the Berlin to photocall for 'Underworld: Blood Wars' wearing a dress by Elie Saab on the terrace at Akademie der Kuenste on November 22, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Brian Dowling/Getty Images for Sony Pictures) BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 22: Actress Kate Beckinsale attends the Berlin to photocall for 'Underworld: Blood Wars' wearing a dress by Elie Saab on the terrace at Akademie der Kuenste on November 22, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Brian Dowling/Getty Images for Sony Pictures)Brian Dowling—Sony Pictures/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 21, 2016 3:43 PM UTC Not all [breakups](http://motto.time.com/4219831/breakup-heartbreak-good-for-you/) — whether celebrity or pedestrian — end with exes on good terms. Consider [Kate Beckinsale](http://time.com/4326828/kate-beckinsale-love-and-friendship/) and ex [Michael Sheen](http://time.com/4605848/michael-sheen-not-quit-acting-political-activism/). The two dated for eight years before splitting in 2003 and are parents to 17-year-old daughter, Lily, who just got [accepted into college](http://motto.time.com/4604659/kate-beckinsale-daughter-college/). Beckinsale [revealed](http://www.etonline.com/news/205526%5Fexclusive%5Fkate%5Fbeckinsale%5Freveals%5Fthe%5Fsecret%5Fto%5Fco%5Fparenting%5Fwith%5Fex%5Fmichael%5Fsheen/) to _ET Online_ her secrets for a happy relationship with her former love and even his current girlfriend. Beckinsale explained that the core of their relationship is doing what’s best for their daughter. Although her main tip to finding a great ex is “pick well,” her more tangible piece of advice was “not hating each other and fighting and all that.” Beckinsale praises having fun as well. She told _ET Online_, “We’ve also got a really similar sense of humor, and I do find that humor can save an awful lot of things and help a lot of things.” In regards to humor, Beckinsale maintains a close relationship with Sheen’s current girlfriend, comedian Sarah Silverman. The three of them have [posed together](http://www.etonline.com/news/188057%5Fkate%5Fbeckinsale%5Fmichael%5Fsheen%5Fand%5Fsarah%5Fsilverman%5Fpose%5Ftogether%5Fon%5Fthe%5Fred%5Fcarpet/) on the red carpet and spend the holidays together. Beckinsale explained, “We had Thanksgiving at his girlfriend’s house and they’re having Christmas at our house.” No custody battles arise in the Beckinsale-Sheen household: “We like hanging out with each other, so it’s not like, ‘Oh, who gets Lily?’ or whatever. It’s like, ‘Whose house are we going to be at?'” \[[ET Online](http://www.etonline.com/news/205526%5Fexclusive%5Fkate%5Fbeckinsale%5Freveals%5Fthe%5Fsecret%5Fto%5Fco%5Fparenting%5Fwith%5Fex%5Fmichael%5Fsheen/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4608979/kate-beckinsale-co-parenting-michael-sheen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4608979/kate-beckinsale-co-parenting-michael-sheen/"},"headline":"How Kate Beckinsale Peacefully Co-Parents With Her Ex","datePublished":"2016-12-21T15:43:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:11.842Z","description":"It involves ‘not hating’ him","url":"https://time.com/4608979/kate-beckinsale-co-parenting-michael-sheen/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte37c34d0b3c683fb/6988b3ad428a9e29f9cd5555/kate-beckinsale-parenting-secrets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte37c34d0b3c683fb/6988b3ad428a9e29f9cd5555/kate-beckinsale-parenting-secrets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"'Underworld: Blood Wars' Photocall In Berlin","caption":"'Underworld: Blood Wars' Photocall In Berlin","creditText":"Brian Dowling—Sony Pictures/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4608979/kate-beckinsale-co-parenting-michael-sheen/","name":"How Kate Beckinsale Peacefully Co-Parents With Her Ex"}}]}] ```