All About Her Son and Daughter ArticlePure

Kate Mara has been in the public eye for over two decades, but she would rather keep her kids out of the spotlight.

The House of Cards actress shares two children with her husband, Jamie Bell. In 2017, the couple married, making Mara stepmom to Bell’s son, Jack, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Evan Rachel Wood. A few years after Mara and Bell wed, they expanded their family.

They welcomed their first child together, a baby girl in 2019 and a baby boy in 2022. Since then, the pair have kept their family life incredibly private. After both kids were born, Mara shared the news on social media along with a photo of the babies’ feet, however, she has not revealed their names or shared pictures of their faces.

According to Mara, parenthood has been nothing but “positive” for her.

“My life changed when I became a stepmom,” she shared in an interview with Rose & Ivy. “When we had our daughter, first of all, it kind of felt like she was always with us, not that much changed from one to two. We just got a lot more love to go around for all of us.”

Motherhood is even better now that the actress is a mom of two. “It’s the best,” she told E! News after welcoming her son.

From their births to their life at home, here’s everything to know about Kate Mara’s kids with Jamie Bell.

Mara experienced a miscarriage before welcoming her daughter

Shortly after her daughter was born, Mara opened up about previously experiencing a miscarriage during an interview on Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy Podcast.

“It was the first time I’ve ever been pregnant, and I’ve never had that excitement and shock of being an almost mom,” she shared.

However, the excitement was short-lived and eight weeks later, the actress discovered she had a blighted ovum, a type of early miscarriage.

Mara went on to describe how the experience impacted her next pregnancy. “We got pregnant again very quickly, but we were both so nervous that it was going to happen again,” she said. “I was definitely excited, but there was [also] this fear element.”

“It was bittersweet,” she continued. “I was so excited, but also sad that we weren’t as excited as we were the first time because that was clear that it was a very different dynamic.”

Mara delivered her daughter via emergency c-section

In part two of her interview on Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy Podcast, Mara opened up about giving birth to her daughter via emergency c-section.

The actress shared that she developed Cholestasis, a liver condition, in her third trimester, which meant she had to be induced at 36 weeks and she couldn’t have an at-home birth like she’d hoped for. After three days of labor, though, she needed to undergo an emergency c-section after developing a 102-degree fever.

Mara went on to explain that after the c-section, she experienced several post-surgery symptoms, including shaking and bleeding. On top of that, she couldn’t move her arms to hold her newborn.

“My husband brought her over to me, and he kind of held her on my chest,” she said. “It was amazing, but it was not at all what I imagined it would be. I could barely keep my eyes open to look at her.”

Still, hearing her daughter make her first noises was “totally comforting,” and despite all the complications, she “wouldn’t do anything differently.”

“We really did everything in our power to make it as peaceful and natural and easy for our baby to come out as possible,” the Fantastic Four star added.

Mara and Bell have kept their kids’ names private

In May 2019, Mara announced that she and Bell had welcomed their daughter with an Instagram post. “We had a baby a couple weeks ago … Here are her feet ?,” she wrote next to a photo of the newborn’s toes.

Mara shared a similar announcement after welcoming their son in November 2022. She posted a photo on Instagram of his toes peeking out from under a blanket, writing, “Had a baby a week ago. Here are his feet ?.”

Since then, the pair have not revealed either child’s name to the public or shared pictures of their faces.

The actress is notoriously private about her family and relationships. In a 2020 interview with Rose & Ivy, she explained that fame “doesn’t feel relevant” to her most of the time. “I have a pretty normal life with my husband and kids,” she added.

Mara brought her newborn daughter to set in Canada

A few months after her daughter was born, Mara began filming for the FX on Hulu series, A Teacher.

“We had to do chemistry reads with me nine months pregnant, which is very awkward,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “I look ridiculous, fully pregnant, and [the actors are] trying to avoid looking at my baby bump.”

She revealed that the series was filmed in Alberta, Canada, in a two-month timeframe and chose to bring her daughter with her because of that.

“I had the baby on set with me every day and was breastfeeding between takes,” Mara explained. “I definitely wouldn’t have chosen the timing. I wanted to be cocooned in a house with my child. But I felt so much support from our director, producer and DP. I knew I was going to be taken care of.”

Mara was pregnant with her son while filming Black Mirror

During her second pregnancy, Mara was working on another dark television show: Black Mirror.

The actress, who stars in the episode “Beyond the Sea,” spoke to Salon about filming the season 6 installment over a few weeks in England.

“It was one of the best experiences I’ve had making something,” she shared. “It was a very quick shoot.”

Mara continued, “I was also six months pregnant when I filmed it, and I wasn’t meant to be pregnant. That was special because my now son was there in every scene.”

In a 2023 interview with Rose & Ivy, she explained that she was initially nervous on set due to her pregnancy.

“Being pregnant you never know what it’s going to be like or feel like and having to hide a baby bump, but it just wasn’t a problem,” she said. “I credit that to the production.”

Mara finds it “easy” to switch between being an actress and a mom

Throughout her career, Mara has gravitated toward complicated, sometimes unsettling, characters, and when she became a parent, she quickly adjusted to leaving her fictional personas at work.

“Because of my home life, because of what’s happening there, I don’t usually have a hard time shaking off the day’s work,” she told Salon. “Once I get home, there are too many people there who don’t care about what you were just doing the last 13 hours. I think that’s helpful.”

In an interview with Emmy Magazine, Mara shared that she finds it “quite easy” to keep her acting life and her home life separate.

“Thank God, because as a new mom, when you have a baby on your boob, screaming in the trailer, and then you’ve got to go pretend to be sexy, it’s kind of a complete nightmare,” she said.

Still, the whole thing is worth it “because I have this little angel baby.”

Mara took her daughter to a chimp sanctuary

Throughout her career, Mara has been a staunch animal advocate and has traveled to Liberia several times to work with rescued chimpanzees. In 2023, the actress took her daughter to a chimp sanctuary in Florida.

“I had never been to a chimp sanctuary in the States before and I was able to bring my then 3-year-old daughter,” she told Rose & Ivy. “My kids all know how much mom loves chimps and wants to save and protect them. So to be able to bring our daughter there was very special especially because we talk about how much we don’t want to support zoos.”

“I think it’s important for adults and children, especially, to go to sanctuaries and see the animals being treated with love and respect,” she continued. “Hopefully that inspires them to want to learn more and do more. So going to a place like that with a child is quite magical.”