Kate Beckinsale has more than just one man in her life.
The very much married Beckinsale likes to keep former boyfriend Michael Sheen close. But there's nothing kinky going on—it's all for her 10-year-old daughter Lily's sake. "We're a family with two dads," Beckinsale tells the new issue of Self magazine, referring to her ex and her husband, director Len Wiseman. "Somehow it all works out."
Beckinsale, who shares parenting duties with Sheen, says, "Lily [walks] around the house going, 'Daddy!' and several people [say], 'Yes?' It's kind of funny. 'No, not you, the other one!' "
And the family-friendly jokes continue...
"Michael had a huge beard recently, and I decided it would be fun if Lily got to shave it off," says Beckinsale. "So we got Len's clippers and shaved Michael. I'm sure that's why Lily doesn't feel like she has split parents." Adds the actress, "Your stepfather helping to shave your biological father isn't something that necessarily happens in every household."
And while on the topic of Beckinsale's husband, the 35-year-old actress takes a moment to gush: "I've never come across anybody as steady and calm as Len is...I'm the one who's a bit more volatile, spontaneous, mercurial. And Len is like the glue. For everybody."
The flattery doesn't stop there. "He's incredibly handsome, which really helps! And he adores me." And when the two lovebirds are away from each other working on different projects, Beckinsale says, "We are insane texters! We text all day long, wherever we are." She boasts, "I can even do it without looking."
As for when Beckinsale isn't spending quality time with her family, or focusing on the possibility of being an Oscar contender for her role in Nothing but the Truth, the actress reveals she would like to write a novel. She recalls, "I [used to] say, 'OK, where am I on the best-seller list?' " She continues, "It was so silly, and, you know, ambitious. I still want to be a writer." Beckinsale, who has, in fact, won two British national writing awards for her poetry and short stories, says, "The whole juggling-baby-acting thing has kept me quite busy, but now I'm in my little renaissance period. I'm starting to brew. I'm going to do it."