All About Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen's Daughter Briar Rose

Mar. 15, 2025

Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson attend a cocktail party in honor of designer Kris Van Assche in 2009.Photo:Michael Loccisano/Getty

Michael Loccisano/Getty

Rachel BilsonandHayden Christensenwould already have another actor in the family if their daughter Briar Rose Christensen had her way.

Bilson and Christensen welcomed their daughter on Oct. 29, 2014, six years after meeting on the set of the 2008 filmJumper. Since then, Bilson and Christensen have split up — they ended their relationship in 2017 — but they’veopened up about co-parentingand why they’ve been able to do it successfully.

“Communication is key and just being on the same page, so everything’s about the kid," Bilson told PEOPLE in 2021. “As long as you put the kid first, everything will be okay.”

Bilson and Christensen have also revealed a few of Briar’s interests — includingTaylor Swift, cooking and wanting to be an actor like her parents. But at the same time, theO.C.star andStar Warsactor have been careful to protect their child’s privacy, including not posting photos of her face on social media.

Bilson has also shared that when it comes to dating, shewon’t introduce her daughterto anyone unless it’s a “very serious relationship.” Still, she doesn’t hide the fact that being a parent is a key aspect of her life.

Here’s everything to know about Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen’s daughter, Briar Rose Christensen.

She was born on Oct. 29, 2014

Briar Rose Christensen at Disneyland in 2019.Rachel Bilson Instagram

Rachel Bilson Instagram

At the time, Bilson and Christensen had been together for around six years, though they did take a short break from their relationship at one point. The couple got engaged in late 2009, but broke up in the summer of 2010. Despite reconciling, the pair eventuallysplit for goodin 2017 after nearly 10 years together.

She has a fairy tale-inspired name

IfBriar Rose’s namesounds familiar, that’s because she’s named after a Disney princess — or, more specifically, the original Brothers Grimm story that inspired her. Briar Rose is the name of Sleeping Beauty in the Brothers Grimm version of the folktale, and in the Disney version, the character Aurora is referred to as Briar Rose as a child.

“There’s a Disney reference there, I suppose,” Christensen said on Hallmark Channel’sHome & Familyin 2015. “The original Sleeping Beauty is called Briar Rose.”

He added, “We both love all things Disney — but Rachel especially was very keen on the name. We have Disney songs playing around the house 24/7 right now.”

She made her Instagram debut at 9 months old

Since then, while the parents have shared the rare snap of Briar without showing her face, they generally choose to keep her life as private as they can.

“They don’t choose to be in the limelight, you know, themselves. When they’re old enough and they want to pursue it and that’s what they do then that’s fine. But it’s not like I want to promote my kid or put her out there,” Bilson said onThe Viall Files.

But, she recognized that keeping her daughter out of the public eye as much as possible is particularly hard due to the paparazzi.

“They don’t care,” theHart of Dixieactress said. “I saw a picture the other day of my daughter somewhere and she’s looking at the camera smiling because she has no idea. She thinks someone is just taking her picture … it’s so innocent but, it crushed me. Like, ‘No! You don’t know what they’re doing!’ "

Bilson also shared a couple ofrare photosof her daughter inhonor of her 10th birthdayin October 2024. “Happy Birthday my sweet, loving, kind, beautiful girl. You’re my reason. TEN!” she wrote in the caption.

She’s a Swiftie

Briar got the chance toattend Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, but she was not happy when she had to go home before the last song.

“We left early,” Bilson said on her podcastBroad Ideasin August 2023. “Briar’s friend Aria danced her a– off to ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ — she was feeling it — and then just turned around, sat in her seat and passed out.”

The problem was: Briar wasn’t as tired as her concert buddies. Bilson continued, “Everyone around us was laughing because it was so cute. Briar wanted to stay until the end, but her two friends were just done. So we left early. Briar was so mad about that. She was so mad.”

Despite Briar’s annoyance,The Last Kissstar is pleased that Swift was her daughter’s first concert.

“It was a really cool experience except that it was Briar’s first concert and I’m like, ‘Where do you go from here?’ " Bilson said about Swift’s show. “For my daughter to see this, I think it’s so rad. It’s one woman, she writes her own s—, she’s really talented and she does it and like, look at what she’s done.”

She wants to be an actor like her parents

Michael Tran/FilmMagic

“She’s already said she wants to act and I’m like, ‘How do we handle this?’ " Bilson said on the podcastBetches Momsin 2021. “I think to keep that away from her as long as possible is our top choice … It’s not what I would want for her at this age.”

Bilson also shared the extent to which her then-6-year-old daughter understood her and Christensen’s jobs. “I think she knows that her mom — and her dad’s an actor too — so she kind of knows that we are in that world,” she explained. “But she’s not aware of that level.”

Bilson added, “I think she knows he was inStar Wars, but she has no idea what that even means because she hasn’t seen anything. She has an idea but not really. I’d like to keep it that way.”

She hasn’t seenStar Wars— yet

In a more recent interview, Christensen revealed what Briar knows when it comes to theStar Warsfranchise in which he famously plays Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.

“She knows that I’m inStar Warsand that I play this character, but she’s never seen it yet. So, I’m getting to that. I’m trying to figure out my best point of entry,” Christensen said during an episode ofVariety’s “Actors on Actors”series in June 2023. “There’s some disturbing scenes I’m reluctant for her to see at this age.”

“It was really nice getting to do theObi-Wanshow and actually bring her to set,” he continued. “Not when I was in the Darth Vader outfit, but we did the flashback sequence and I got to play Anakin, and so I brought her to set for that, and she got to see me swing a lightsaber withEwan [McGregor].”

He added, “She was very concerned for my well-being. She was afraid that one of us were gonna get hurt.”

She went to aStar Warstheme park

Richard Harbaugh/Disneyland Resort

She might not have seen the films yet, but Briar got another inside look atStar Warswhenshe visitedStar Wars: Galaxy’s Edgeat Disneyland with her father for her fifth birthday in 2019. A series of photos from Christensen and his daughter’s visit were released, including one that shows Briar — photographed from behind — holding a purple lightsaber.

During a 2022 appearance onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Christensen said that Briar helped him train before he portrayed Anakin again forObi-Wan Kenobi.

“We have a couple lightsabers kicking around the house, and actually, she was my first lightsaber training partner when I came back to theObi-Wanshow,” Christensen shared.

She hasn’t seenThe O.C.yet, either

Rachel Bilson celebrates her birthday with her daughter, Briar Rose.Rachel Bilson Instagram

While talking about herThe O.C.rewatch podcastWelcome to the OC, Bitches!during her episode ofBetches Moms, Bilson shared that she hopes it is averylong time before Briar watches the show — she wants her to be “at least 35.”

She added, “It was, like, a full arc … She’ll know how to hug a tree!”

She and Bilson are “inseparable”

Bilson and Briar have a very close relationship.

“It’s so crazy,we’re pretty inseparable,” theTake Twostar told PEOPLE in July 2024. “And she talks to me. She is very open and will talk to me about things or what kids say at school. It’s just really nice that we have that dialogue.”

She doesn’t throw fits

During an August 2024 episode of her podcastBroad Ideas with Rachel Bilson & Olivia Allen, Bilson said that, unlike some other kids her age, Briar is pretty even keeled, making her a “different kid” than her mom was.

“I almost feel weird talking about it with other parents because she doesn’t throw fits,” she said. “It’s just…it’s not how she is. So if there’s ever a time where she’s off or gets, kind of upset about something, it totally disregulates [sic] me.”

Bilson added, “But she really is that way and she’s so kind and it’s just her inner being.”

source: people.com