I just adore Liv Tyler. I think it’s her vulnerability, which seems genuine. I also always remember seeing her kiss Davis Bowie’s hand when she first met him on The Late Show. It was like she was in awe of him and didn’t know what else to do, and it came across as sweet. (I googled that to see if I could find a video, and I did and I remembered it wrong! He kissed her hand first.)

Anyway Liv has been in a lot of emotional turmoil since the end of her five year marriage, to British rocker Royston Langdon, in 2008. She did an interview with Wonderland magazine around the time of her split and it just broke my heart. She said at the time “There’s nothing worse than heartache, being lovesick. It’s like there’s a physical sickness.” She’s 34 and it’s been a few years since her breakup. She’s rich and she’s raising a little seven year-old boy who sounds like he brings a lot of light and love into her life. So I’m hoping that things are looking up for Liv, but in a new interview with Marie Claire UK she still seems like she’s hurt and struggling. That’s just how she’s always been, to hear Liv explain it. Here’s more:

On going East Coast for her son Milo:
“I’m always trying to figure out what’s best for him [Milo] as a person. The kind of person I want him to be. The values I want him to have. Much as I love my friends and LA, I want him to have more of an East Coast upbringing. The sense of community. Walking to school four blocks away.”

On gradually getting over her divorce:
“I feel like I’m learning every day how to get through life and the world. Not just from the divorce. I felt that way throughout my whole life, ever since I was young person. I’ve had a lot of big things happen to me.”

On her unconventional upbringing and what it’s done for her decision-making skills as a mom:
“Absolutely. It’s brought up a tremendous amount of issues, concerns and worries for me, being a mother, and how much that meant to be based on my childhood and what I went through. Wonderful, beautiful things and difficult things. It was always a dream of mine to be a mother. I didn’t ever really dream of being an actress. I used to dream of being a singer, but I always dreamed of being a mother ever since I was young girl.”

On those pesky rumors that she quit acting, or is slowing phasing it out of her life:
“I’ve never really stopped. Even when I was a kid I’d work for a year straight and then I would take a year off. It always felt natural to live my life again and store things up to put in my next performance.”

On her love of collecting photographs on her phone:
“Obsessively, I have thousands of pictures on my phone. Why am I so fascinated with capturing moments? I’ll tell you why. Because I’ve had so much change in my life. My whole life things have constantly changed, so psychologically I’m sure I’m quite sentimental. I want to remember the feeling, not only what it looks like. When it’s happening, it’s so wonderful but I know it’s gonna change or not gonna last. Everything changes so I want to remember it because I feel grateful for it.”

[From Marie Claire UK via Evil Beet]

I think it’s sweet that she said she’s “dreamed of being a mother ever since I was young girl” and like that’s what she finds meaning in. Liv’s movie career didn’t quite take off after Lord of The Rings, and that seems apt since I’ve find her acting kind of one dimensional. I like to see her on screen, though, just because she’s so damn likable and gorgeous. Liv will next appear in Robot and Frank, with Frank Langella, James Marsden, Susan Sarandon and Peter Sarsgaard. It’s about an “elderly ex-jewel thief and his new caretaker robot” and premiered at Sundance. In this interview she’s promoting Pantene, though. With gorgeous hair like that she’s an effective spokesperson. She’s probably got some extensions, but her hair doesn’t look all fakey fake like Kate Beckinsale’s.

Scans via The Fashion Spot