11 Male Celebs Who've Been Honest About The Reasons Behind Their Decision To Stay Child-Free

Without a doubt, a child-free lifestyle has been the hot topic of 2024, from J.D. Vance's comments on "childless cat ladies" to Andrew Garfield's recent interview, in which he stated that he simply doesn't have time to be a dad. This ongoing societal discussion has inspired many child-free individuals to open up about the reasons why they decided never to have kids...

It goes without saying that the child-free debate typically centers around (and criticizes) women; however, just as many men (whether famous or not) have decided in recent years that fatherhood simply isn't for them. Here are 10 celebrity men who've publicly opened up about the reasons why they live a child-free life:

1. Andrew Garfield:

The We Live in Time actor first opened up about his child-free journey during an interview with GQ in 2022, "it’s interesting – I always thought I would be the first [in his friend group] to have kids and settle down, and they’re [his friends] all shacked up and a couple of kids deep, for the most part." He continued, "It’s more about accepting a different path than what was kind of expected of me from birth. Like, by this time you will have done this, and you will have at least one child — that kind of thing. I think I have some guilt around that. And obviously it’s easier for me as a man..."

Garfield noted that his mother's death — due to pancreatic cancer — had caused him to reevaluate his decision, “Life seems to be a perpetual practice of letting s--t go. Letting go of an idea of how a thing should look, or be, or feel. And that one's a big one [to let go of], because of course I would've loved my mum to have met my kids, if I'm going to have kids. And she will. In spirit. She'll be there for it. I know she's there, for all the big ones.”

In an October 2024 interview with Esquire, the 41-year-old once again discussed the topic of fatherhood, “I’m already a tired guy, I don’t want to be a tired dad.” He further acknowledged that raising a child in the spotlight is a task that heavily factors into his decision, “particularly bringing new life into the context of my life, there’s a heavy burden there.”

2. Seth Rogen:

During a 2023 interview on The Diary of a CEO podcast, the Knocked Up actor opened up about his and his wife, Lauren Miller's decision to remain child-free and the ways he believes it positively impacted his career, “There’s a whole huge thing I’m not doing, which is raising children.”

“I’ve been around obviously a lot of children, I’m not ignorant to what it’s like. Everyone I know has kids. I’m 40, you know? I know. Some of my friends have had kids for decades. Some people want kids, some people don’t want kids. A lot of people have kids before they even think about it, from what I’ve seen, honestly.” Rogen explained, “You just are told, ‘You go through life, you get married, you have kids’ — it’s what happens.”

The now-42-year-old admitted that he and Miller have never regretted their decision, "Honestly, the older we get, the more happy and reaffirmed we are with our choice to not have kids...Now, more than anything, the conversation is like, ‘Honestly, thank God we don’t have children.' We get to do whatever we want.”

“We have the capacity to achieve a level of work and a level of communication and care for one another, and a lifestyle we can live with one another that we’ve never been able to live before, and we can just do that, and we don’t have to raise a child — which the world does not need right now.”

3. Trevor Noah:

As of now, Trevor Noah is child-free; however, his opinion on potential parenthood varies daily. 

When asked about his personal life during a 60 Minutes interview in 2022, Noah revealed: “Sometimes I will meet kids who make me go, ‘I want a kid.’ And then sometimes I’ll meet children where I go, ‘I hope that my sperm doesn’t do anything because this person is a terror.'"

Host Leslie Stahl reminded the then-37-year-old of his age and asked him if he believed his fleeting thoughts of fatherhood were due to his "[biological] clock," to which he simply responded, "No."

4. Christopher Walken:

In 2005, while discussing his role in the comedy film Wedding Crashers, the Academy Award winner revealed that playing a father was an all-new experience for him as a child-free individual, “It was a different kind of part for me because I played many villains and in this movie, I was a father, a good person, the Secretary of the Treasury, which is unusual for me. Also, I don’t have children, but I thought, what would I be like, if I had a beautiful daughter?"

“I do like to work as much as I can because I don’t have children," the now 81-year-old admitted, "I don’t have hobbies, I don’t do anything else. And I’m glad that I don’t have children. I have two brothers and they have plenty of children, they come to my house and I am always very glad when they leave. I have a wife, I’ve been married for thirty-five years, and I have some cats, but I can open the door and they go out, so it’s quite nice.”

Eight years later, during an interview with The Guardian, when asked if he believed his career would have been as successful if he and his wife of 55 years, Georgianne, had children, the Pulp Fiction actor insisted, "Absolutely not. I'm sure many of the kids I knew as a child would have continued in show business, but they had kids of their own, so they had to do something dependable. I didn't, so I could get by even in periods of unemployment."

5. John Cena:

The actor and wrestler has been open about his child-free lifestyle numerous times in recent years. During a 2022 interview on The Drew Barrymore Show, when Barrymore remarked that the Cena would make "the world's greatest father," he didn't quite agree with her assessment and stated that he didn't feel "qualified" to be a father.

“It’s hard work to balance the time I need to run myself correctly. It’s work to be the best partner and husband I can be to my loving wife. It’s hard to keep connections with those in my life that I love. And it’s also hard to put in an honest days work. I think just because you might be good at something, for me, is not a strong enough reason to do that,” he said. “You have to have a passion for it. You have to have a fuel for it. It's like saying to somebody, 'Man, you know, you're pretty good with your hands. You'd be a great carpenter.'"

In August 2024, on Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay podcast, the 47-year-old revealed that he and his wife have had “open conversations” about parenthood and ultimately found themselves “on the same page.”

“I don’t want them. I’m 47. I don’t have them. I have a certain curiosity about life, and I also know the investment that it takes. As somebody who’s driven, many times stubborn and selfish, I try to approach the world with kindness and curiosity...but I don’t think I’m personally ready, nor will I ever be, to invest the time [needed] to be a great parent," he claimed.

“I want to live life for all it is; I still have a lot to do.”

6. Sam Rockwell:

In 2007, Rockwell, while promoting the psychological thriller Joshua — in which he plays the successful father of a malevolent nine-year-old — stated that he was okay with keeping his "parenting" limited to the silver screen, "I definitely don't want to become a parent. It's not my bag.'" 

When asked if his feelings on children stemmed from the actor being an only child, he responded, 'It's weird, I don't get children, I don't quite understand it. I think being an only child means you learn to live in your own world. It's a survival thing. I space out quite a lot. People are, like: 'Where are you, why do you do that?'" 

'But also, children are a lot of work," The Green Mile actor noted. "I have so much respect for parents. I suppose the end result is I feel I have too much to do."

7. Pedro Pascal:

After being dubbed the internet's "daddy," The Last of Us star noted that he has no interest in becoming an actual father; during the 2023 Hollywood Reporter Roundtable, Pascal discussed the "daddy" situation: "Yeah, I am having fun with it. It seems a little role-related. There was a period where the Mandalorian is very daddy to baby Grogu, and Joel is very daddy to Ellie. These are daddy parts. That's what it is."

When Jeff Bridges asked the actor if he was an IRL daddy, the 49-year-old reiterated that he is not an actual father and has no intentions of becoming one, "I'm not a daddy. And I'm not gonna be a daddy!"

8. Bill Maher:

Bill Maher has long been outspoken about his child-free lifestyle. In an ABC News interview, the comedian once said, "I would have to be a totally different person to want kids...Everyone says to me, you know, 'You don't like kids, but when it's yours...' I think I'd be the first guy to look in the crib when it's mine and go, 'Still nothing.'"

Several years later, on Real Time with Bill Maher, he proposed a holiday for child-free individuals called "I Didn't Reproduce Day." During the segment, he got candid on the reason why many individuals (including himself) decide not to have children, “There’s nothing literally that you can do that is better for the environment than to not produce another resource-sucking, waste-making human being probably with a bad attitude. You could do it all, you could get a hybrid car, do the recycling, not throw batteries in the trash. It all adds up to a fraction of the good it would do to have just one less child because that child increases your carbon legacy by over 9000 tons.”

He then highlighted the scrutiny he and other child-free people face because of their decision, "It’s true that when you’re childless, people love to tell you, you 'have to' have a baby...But you don’t have to. You have to have car insurance.”

“So having kids or not having kids, there’s not a moral dimension to it." Maher continued, "It’s just your taste. I don’t want to have kids for the same reason you do — because that’s what each of us wants. I get it. Lots of people love kids. Although I must say, no one in the world ever looks happier than when Maury Povich says, ‘You are not the father.’”

9. Robert Smith:

In 2011, after much speculation surrounding a live version of  The Cure's "A Boy I Never Knew," frontman Robert Smith elaborated on his and his wife of 36 years, Mary Poole's decision not to have children — as many fans believed the song's lyrics reflected Smith's unfulfilled desire for fatherhood.

The goth-rock icon admitted that the song was inspired rather by friends who had lost children — but mostly by Turkana Boy, a fossilized child who was discovered by paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey in 1984 — instead of his own desire for offspring, "The bond between parent and child is something I'll only experience one way, and it seems to transcend pretty much everything...I've never regretted not having children. My mindset in that regard has been constant. I objected to being born, and I refuse to impose life on someone else. Living, it's awful for me. I can't on one hand argue the futility of life and the pointlessness of existence and have a family. It doesn't sit comfortably."

He noted that when he wants to be around children, he simply spends time with his extended family, "I have 25 nephews and nieces, so I have the pleasure of lots of children around when I want them. But I can shut the door on them. My wife and I decided at a very early age that we would not have children. I don't feel responsible enough to bring a child into the world."

10. Alan Rickman:

The late Harry Potter actor first met his wife, Rima Horton, in 1965 when the teenagers were both members of an amateur acting group at Chelsea College of Arts. They were together until his passing in 2016. 

Despite their long-term relationship, the couple never had children. In 1998, Rickman told The Guardian that he honored his wife's decision regarding their family, "You should remember I am not the only one involved. There is another person here."

"I would have loved a family, " he claimed, expressing his past desire to have children. "Sometimes, I think that in an ideal world, three children, aged 12, 10, and eight, would be dropped on us, and we would be great parents for that family."

11. Ricky Gervais:

During a 2019 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Gervais opened up about several of the factors behind his decision to remain child-free — with one of those reasons being that he would "worry" too much if he had a baby. The now-63-year-old joked, "I'd worry sick about a baby. I have a cat and I worry about that. I check the door three times before I go out. I put food and water in every room in case the door closes and he's peckish for 20 minutes."

"There's loads of reasons why I don't have kids." The comedian proceeded to list more examples of why he and his longtime partner, Jane Fallon, never had children: "The world is overpopulated, no one's sitting around going, 'Oh Rick's not going to have kids, we're going to run out, there's loads!'" 

Sarcastically, he added that kids are "scroungers," and that "From day one, it's [all about] me me me."