Lily Collins, 35, once feared she would never be a mother. Now, she has welcomed her first baby via surrogate.
The Emily in Paris star announced the exciting news on Saturday, sharing a photo of the newborn with her Instagram followers.
"Welcome to the center of our world Tove Jane McDowell," wrote the actor, who shares Tove with her husband, Charlie McDowell.
"Words will never express our endless gratitude for our incredible surrogate and everyone who helped us along the way. We love you to the moon and back again."
The comments section was quickly flooded with support from friends and fans alike, with one follower pointing out a very special detail in Tove's name.
"Her middle name is Jane, like Lily," they wrote.
Already an incredible milestone, the arrival of Collins' baby girl is made all the more special as the actress once feared she would never be a mother.
In 2017, Collins confessed she was "terrified she had "ruined [her] chances of having kids" due to a past eating disorder.
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The 35-year-old new mum is no stranger to fame, having lived her life in the spotlight since birth, and starring in her first on-screen role at the age of just two.
Even though she comes from a famous family, her father the one and only Phil Collins, the actress has been able to make a name for herself in the film and TV industry.
Lily Collins' early life.
Born in Surrey, England, to musician Phil Collins and his second wife, American Jill Tavelman, Collins' appeared in the BBC series Growing Pains, when she was a toddler.
As a teenager, Collins had dreams of being on camera in a different capacity. She studied broadcast journalism at the University of Southern California and wrote for Seventeen, Teen Vogue and the Los Angeles Times, and had her own column 'NY Confidential' in British magazine Elle Girl. In 2008, she reported on the U.S. presidential election for Nickelodeon.
She began modelling, and in 2007 was selected by Chanel to wear one of their gowns at the Bal des débutantes at the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, which was featured on season three of the reality television series The Hills.
In 2008, Spain's Glamour magazine named her its International Model of the Year.
Lily Collins' relationship with her father.
In 2019, Collins told The Guardian she was told she could "have other ways in" to the industry thanks to her famous last name, but she never wanted to give anyone the opportunity to doubt her hard work.
"I knew it would take longer to do it on my own, but it would be so much more worth it," she said.
As her acting career has taken off, Collins has gone from being recognised as the daughter of Phil Collins to... well, Phil Collins being recognised as her dad.
"Someone told me they were listening to the radio and they were playing classic hits," she recalled to The Sun in 2019.
"At the end the DJ said, 'For all of you who don't know, that was Phil Collins - Lily Collins' dad'.
"That was the weirdest thing, just so bizarre. Even my dad has said to me, 'You know, I am known as your dad now'."
Lily Collins' career.
Lily Collins starred in her first on-screen role at the age of just two.
In 2009, Collins returned to acting with her adult debut in two episodes of 90210 and the Oscar-nominated film The Blind Side, alongside Sandra Bullock.
Insistent on carving her own path, Collins starred in a number of films from 2011, including Mirror Mirror, Stuck in Love and Love, Rosie.
"I got told 'no' so many times," she told Momtastic about her struggle to make it. "People told me I was too green or wasn't as seasoned yet."
"When I wrote my book last year, I wrote a chapter on eating disorders a week before I got this script [for To the Bone]," Collins told Vanity Fair in 2017.
"It really felt like the universe was saying, 'This is either something you need to address yourself, or something you need to bring to new people. It's a conversation that you need to help start among young people — males and females — because it is becoming more and more prevalent for both now'."
As a 16-year-old, Collins was trying to balance her dreams of modelling and acting, along with the stress that came from her dad's divorce from his third wife, Orianne Cevey.
"My life fell out of control. I couldn't handle the pain and confusion surrounding my dad's divorce, and I was having a hard time balancing being a teenager with pursuing two different grown-up careers – both of which I'd chosen myself, but which also focused heavily on how I looked," she told The Sun.
She explained further to Harper's Bazaar:
"When I was younger, I wanted to reach this image of what I thought perfection was and I equated that with, well, with what you see in the media; you think body shape has to a lot do with being perfect.
"I wanted to control how I got there. At that time, I was dealing with high school and relationships, and you're very out of control at that stage in your life. How do you feel in control? Well, I controlled how I ate and looked. Then, as I grew older, I realised that perfection doesn't exist and my priorities have shifted because I want a family one day. I don't want these self-imposed issues to affect whether or not I can have kids – because the reality is you can't have children when you're ill like that."
Collins had enjoyed a steady career for many years, but come 2018-2019, things really picked up.
During this time, she starred in the Les Misérables miniseries, the Ted Bundy biopic Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, and Tolkien, and the biographical film about Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien.
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Lily Collins' love life.
Throughout her career, Collins has kept her personal life private.
In 2013, she stated she doesn't like to discuss her relationships publicly as she recalled the role the media and the internet played in her parents' divorce.
But we know she dated stuntman Riley Harper from August 2009 to September 2010, before several co-stars.
She dated her Abduction co-star Taylor Lautner in 2010/2011, as confirmed by another co-star Denzel Whitaker.
In 2019, they starred in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile together.
"I used to do reporting for Nickelodeon, so I literally interviewed him at an orange carpet event years ago. We've been friends ever since, so we finally got to work together," Collins told E! News.
She dated Jamie Campbell Bower, her The Mortal Instruments co-star in 2013 before they went their separate ways. During this time, she went on a few dates with Chris Evans.
She and Bower got back together in 2015, and dated until July 2018.
In 2019, she began dating director and writer Charlie McDowell and the two could definitely relate to the unique experience of growing up with famous parents.
Chelsea McLaughlin
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