Kristen Bell Has Never Heard of Attachment Parenting, Reveals a Frozen Secret—and More

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Do-it-all moms celebrate the "EveryDay" with Kristen Bell

You know her as Anna, as Veronica Mars, and as one half of a lovable Hollywood couple. And guess what? Kristen Bell is just as smart, funny, warm, and, yes, sassy, as you would expect. We sat down with the actress, who's in town to celebrate the new AmEx EveryDay Credit Card with a special group of hardworking moms, to get the scoop on attachment parenting, breastfeeding in public, the major thing you don't know about Frozen, and hunky husband Dax Shepard.

Your No Kids Policy calls for the media to stop publishing paparazzi photos of celebrity children. How has it affected your and Lincoln's life?

It's affected us quite a bit, actually. We simply aren't followed anymore. We have peace, quiet, and the ability to be a normal family out and about in the suburbs of Los Angeles.

Were you surprised that people were so respectful of it?

The media machine can be a monster, and I didn't know if consumers would respond to a plea like this. I'm the first to admit how few people it actually affects. But being one of them, and my child being one of them, I felt it was important and was overjoyed by how many compassionate mothers, parents, and consumers of entertainment media felt like they would draw a line at harassment of children.

Have you gotten feedback from any other celebs on how this has affected their families?

Yes, I've had quite a few people say it's quite literally changed their day-to-day lives because their child isn't as paranoid, since they're not being followed by groups of strangers. It's also impacted them for the better, because they're finally allowed to be normal during the day. Michelle Williams has told me it's made quite a difference, which makes me very grateful because I think she's gotten the brunt of a lot of it. Jennifer Garner has said it's made a difference. Hearing those kinds of things and knowing how much worse their kids have gotten it makes me very happy.

When Dax wrote a Huffington Post blog about the policy, he said that before you two had Lincoln, the issue wasn't even on your radar. How else has your life changed since becoming a mom?

Having a child has provided perspective on every choice I make. Whether it's what I'm eating, or how I'm spending my time, or how I'm relating to other people, it occurs to me that everyone I meet is somebody's child. And I know that sounds corny, but it makes a difference when you're angry at someone in traffic. It makes a difference when someone has an attitude with you. You cut them a little bit of slack because you have more compassion.

Lately, we've been hearing a lot about attachment parenting. How do you feel about it?

I don't know what that is, really, or the research or results behind it. But I've taken a very casual approach, and we didn't co-sleep other than the first few weeks. Lincoln sleeps wonderfully on her own and likes being in her crib by herself, and I let her breastfeed until she decided she was done. I definitely value giving her alone time so that when she inevitably isn't the center of everyone's universe when she gets a little bit older, it doesn't feel like the rug is pulled out from underneath her.

Last year, you tweeted about breastfeeding pumps backstage at the CMT Awards. How do you feel about everyone being up in arms about breastfeeding in public?

Get over it! They're just boobs! Calm down. They're under our shirt whether you're looking at them or not.

Accurate. And since having Lincoln, you've gone from being a vegan to a vegetarian. Is she a vegetarian, too?

No, she's still a baby, so we don't know what she eats yet. But I don't plan on raising her in any specific way. I plan on letting her make her own choices.

We have to talk about Frozen. This movie has been so huge and has exceeded everyone's expectations. What is it that made it strike such a nerve with people?

I don't know that you can ever really identify what the catalyst is when something is a mega-success. Malcolm Gladwell may be the only one who would be able to answer that. But I think it has something to do with it being a modernized love story. There is really no Prince Charming. It's about modern-day girls who are quirky, goofy, have flaws, and are trying to get along. It's a very honest battle that we all deal with every day: Do you choose love or do you choose fear?

What's the one thing people don't know about the movie that they should?

That "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" was pulled right after it was written, about a year and a half before Frozen came out, and only put back in by the skin of its teeth.

Why did they put it back in?

Because the way that animation is written, there is sort of a road map to where the songs fall at certain climax points. You aren't supposed to really have more than seven or eight songs in there—this is how all animated Disney movies work. They had an opening song, "The Frozen Heart," and they felt that "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" was another opening song, so they pulled it. But right at the very last minute, they thought it was too good and put it back in.

In terms of you and Dax, I know you're approaching the seven-year mark. Do you have a seven-year itch? How are you keeping your marriage strong?

I love him just as much as the day I met him, partly because he's so funny. He constantly jokes with me about how itchy our relationship feels at seven years, which very much keeps me laughing, because I know he's joking. We have really good communication skills. I think that's what allows us to survive.

Do you do regular date nights?

As much as we can, absolutely. And we spend a lot of alone time nurturing our relationship beyond the baby.

The moms here for the #EveryDayMoments event were chosen partly based on their selfies. Do you take selfies?

I don't, actually. Selfies make me very uncomfortable. I took one for this because I wanted to participate, but I don't take them on a normal basis because I feel… It feels so narcissistic to me.

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