Kim Basinger was an "unconventional" mother because she worried about how her divorce affected her daughter.
The 62-year-old actress split from Alec Baldwin after eight years of marriage in 2002 when their daughter Ireland was just seven years old and she was so concerned about the impact of the "nasty" split on their little girl, she imposed few rules in order for her to feel as "free" as possible.
She told Net-A-Porter’s The Edit magazine: "Divorce is hard on a kid, no matter how you cut it. And ours was very public and nasty.
"So I brought up Ireland in a very unconventional way.
"I just wanted her to be free. If she wanted to have her friends over and write over the walls with pen, that was fine.
"I wanted her childhood to be full of love and light and animals and friends."
Though the former couple were embroiled in a bitter four-year custody battle, and the ’30 Rock’ actor – who also has children Carmen, two, and Rafael, nine months, with pregnant wife Hilaria – even branded Ireland, now 20, a "rude, thoughtless pig" in a voicemail when she was just 11 years old, the ‘L.A. Confidential’ star insists they are on better terms now.
She added: "[Alec and I are] cool now, though. Life goes on."
Kim – who has most recently been romantically linked to her hairdresser Mitch Stone – thinks there is nothing more attractive in a man than "kindness and humour".
She said: "Now, I’m more reality-based. As a sexual creature I’ve been attracted to a lot of different types, people that others have thought were unattractive.
"But showing kindness and humour are the most important things to me now. If you have those qualities then I think that makes you attractive."
Kim Basinger’s unconventional parenting
