Although there’s been no official response as to why the 35 year old star of the hit Netflix series ‘Emily In Paris’, has used a surrogate to have a baby, a clue comes in her 2017 memoir ‘Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me’,
Lily – the daughter of musician Phil Collins – candidly described how an eating disorder had a devastating effect on her reproductive system. She revealed she used to eat ‘every type of junk food possible’ and then force herself to vomit. She said it stopped her menstrual cycle adding: ‘I was terrified I had ruined my chances of having kids.’
Her real life drama echoed her work life when in March 2016 she was cast as the lead in a film about anorexia directed by Marti Noxon. The film follows Ellen, a 20 year old woman suffering from anorexia nervosa. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 22nd January 2017, as a contender in the US Dramatic Competition. It was then released worldwide on Netflix on 14th July 2017, and her depiction of the role was described as : “exemplary work”.
Critical acclaim continued after she was cast in the role of Emily in Paris in 2020, a television series about a young American working in Paris, when she received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress, her second globe nomination..
Everything seemed to be perfect when she announced her engagement to American film director and writer Charlie McDowell in September 2020. He comes from Hollywood royalty with his mother being actress Mary Steenburgen and step father Ted Danson. His own father is the well known British actor Malcolm McDowell.
They were married in 2021 at Dunton Hot Springs, Colorado and in March 2023 it was reported that they had bought a townhouse in the Osterbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark.
During this time the story line for Emily in Paris covered her friends pregnancy, which turned out to be false in an attempt to keep her boyfriend, and it must have been a poignant time for Lily who was clearly trying to have her own baby.
No one would have guessed the personal turmoil she was going through as she continued to be totally professional at work. So it must have been a huge relief and wonderful day when her daughter: Tove Jane McDowell arrived via surrogate.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing because the birth news post on instagram received some hateful remarks, with people condemning surrogacy for exploiting women. One user likened it to “placing an order on Amazon.” In response, McDowell addressed the backlash, defending their path to parenthood.
“Thank you for all the kind messages and love. We are overjoyed and very grateful.” The 41-year-old added. “In regards to the unkind messages about surrogacy and our path to having a baby — it’s OK to not be an expert on surrogacy.”
He urged critics to avoid making assumptions, adding, “It’s OK to spend less time spewing hateful words into the world, especially in regards to a beautiful baby girl who has brought a lot of love into people’s lives.” Ending on a lighthearted note, he quipped, “That’s all for now because she just pooped and I need to change her diaper.”
Cocooned in a newborn bubble at their £3 million mansion in trendy Pasadena, just outside Los Angeles. Lily and Charlie have been laying low this week, with Lily, taking a few short walks with their daughter, Tove Jane.
Standing firmly by her daughter’s side, quietly supporting her through the furore, helping her navigate the newborn haze – and, of course, keeping every secret safe – is Lily’s mother, Jill.
The lesser-known of Lily’s parents, Jill Tavelman, 68, was rock star Phil Collins‘ second wife. She and Phil, drummer and later lead singer of Genesis, separated acrimoniously – after an argument, which culminated in a fax – in 1994, when Lily was just five years old.
The split had a profound effect on Lily, and she has spoken often of how it led to teenage years fraught with angst, unhealthy relationships and her crippling eating disorder.
After the divorce, Jill got sole custody of Lily and set up home, quietly, back in her native Los Angeles. Phil, meanwhile, moved to Switzerland where he embarked on a third – and ultimately disastrous – marriage to Swiss translator, Orianne Cevey, 24 years his junior.
Today, Jill runs an antiques shop, called Waverly on Doheny, in West Hollywood, just 30 minutes from Lily’s front door.
