Lucy Liu on Motherhood and Playing a Modern Dr. Watson

She’s portrayed everything from a hard-hitting lawyer on Ally McBeal and a viper who knows how to fight bad guys in the Kung Fu Panda series to a consulting detective on Elementary. But the new role Lucy Liu is really embracing is: mom.

Liu, 47, is also a part of Tylenol’s #HowWeFamily campaign and recently talked to Parade about what it’s like being a new mom and what fans can expect in the next episode (and series finale) of Elementary.

This is your first year getting to celebrate Mother’s Day as a mom—congratulations! Do you have any big plans?

I think I’m just going to stay in my PJs all day. It’s a good way to do it. You don’t have to change; no one expects you to do anything and you get to relax.

How old is your son, Rockwell? What’s he like?

He’s 8 months old. I feel like he’s young but getting up there already. He’s so mobile and there are so many things that are changing. He’s a huge sweetheart of a guy. He’s very active. You have to have a lot of energy to be around him. He’s very curious and he loves to read. He started going swimming recently. He loves to be around other kids and people. It’s really fun to see how everything is so new and fresh to him. It’s funny; when he’s in the pool he automatically starts to kick his feet since they do that all the time in life, like he’s learning to crawl. It’s amazing how innate it is that they can learn to move like that.

What’s the most unexpected thing about being a mother that you’ve discovered?

You hear about you’re not going to get any sleep. But for me it’s how automatically connected you are to the baby and as you are with him, you get to know him more and I didn’t expect that their personality would be so vibrant so quickly. That they could be so cognitive and so aware at such a young age. I didn’t know it happened so fast.

Have you had any funny or teachable moments since you became a mom?

There’s so many moments of getting peed on or other just fabulous things like just changing him and then him going to the bathroom. It’s just funny. He has no issue with it. He doesn’t know. Throwing food is one of the most hilarious moments, or smashing it into tiny bits on the tables. It’s good times.

What’s it like being a new mom?

My whole world has opened up. I feel like there’s so many things, even talking about things like pools or eating habits, I think it’s fascinating. People would have conversations before and now I really understand and appreciate it. Everything applies to me and my child. It’s a whole dimension of my life that’s opened up that I never thought I’d have to think about. It’s fun; I really love it. I learn a lot from many, many moms. They’re giving me advice and I’m totally taking it.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

Trust your instincts. You’ll be given a lot of advice and be expected to take it, but not to feel pressured to do anything you’re not comfortable with. You have an automatic knowledge of what’s happening. Trust that.

The #HowWeFamily Campaign with Tylenol seems like a great idea—showcasing the diversity of the modern family. How did you get involved?

They invited me to check out their campaign from last year and I truly liked it. They were getting a lot of letters from people saying, “We don’t feel like we’re being represented in your brand.” Since Tylenol is a really big brand, they reached out and wanted others to share their stories. They recognized that the modern family is not what it was before. A man and a woman getting married and having children—it’s all very different now. There’s gay parents, transgender parents, single parents, parents who are adopting or working with surrogates. It’s a proactive way of letting people be represented and to inspire people to have families without judgment. Because you can do it. If you have love and you have love to give, you can do it. It’s a natural feeling. I think it’s a wonderful thing they’re doing. Being a big brand helps them. It’s an opportunity for them and other people and they took hold of it.

Will you show your son any of your movies or television shows when he gets older?

I’ll definitely show him Kung Fu Panda. When he gets older, he’ll get his own opinions on what he does and doesn’t want to see, so I’ll let him decide that. I’m not going to censor him. My parents censored me from watching Three’s Company. I was like “Why?” and they didn’t like that it was two women living with one man. I feel like now, by the time he’s old enough to watch TV, the content will be enormous. Right now we can watch television on our watches and tablets. No one is glued to the screen or getting home by eight to watch Friends. It’s crazy. When he’s interested in something, he’ll probably just have to touch the air or watch television on glasses while he crosses the street—God forbid. I’ll want him to explore and be curious, but you have to give boundaries. I don’t want to spoil him and make him unaware of what other people don’t have. I’d like to take him on UNICEF missions in the future so he can see what I’ve done as well.

When it comes to your on-screen characters, you get to play a really unique version of Dr. Watson on Elementary.

I love being a part of the Elementary family. There was so much hullabaloo when it was announced a woman would be playing Watson, but I don’t think that matters. It’s not like I’m throwing cleavage out there. I’m trying to take a character and be true to what the writer, Robert Doherty, is portraying and what his story is. I want to add what I can to make it as honest and truthful as possible. It’s been a real opportunity to direct on this type of show as well. It’s creatively challenging and has opened up my world in so many ways and I have a greater appreciation for doing things outside what I normally have been in my career.

What can fans look forward to as the season finale approaches? [airing May 8]?

Without giving anything away, I think they can look forward to understanding a bit more about the relationship between Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) and his father (John Noble). That’s the narrative that we’ve been working on for the past few episodes. I find that to be so interesting. It’s what I love about the show. There are so many personal things that are involved and it makes it special. It actually develops relationships. We’ll have some more conclusive information about Sherlock’s father.