To America, Debra Messing is one of the most beloved sitcom actresses ever, but to her son, “I’m just Mom,” the Will and Grace star recently admitted to Us Weekly, referring to her 14-year-old son, Roman. “I think that’s because I literally brought him to the set of Will and Grace — his entire life has been about visiting me on sets and developing close relationships with my co-stars.”

Could you imagine how awesome it would be growing up visiting the set of Will & Grace? However, Debra revealed that the routine was “just his life.” In fact, the 50-year-old didn’t know how much he understood it when he was younger. “When he first became aware, I think it was actually The Starter Wife… was the first time that he really became aware that Mom was a little different than some other moms because he saw me on a bus. He asked me, ‘Mommy, why are you on a bus?’ And I explained to him that that’s just part of my job.”

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His mom isn’t the only one that Roman hung around on famous Hollywood sets with, though. “Roman’s dad is also a creative person, a writer, director, and producer,” Debra explained of her ex-husband, Daniel Zellman. “I don’t think he thinks that I’m particularly cool. And it’s exactly how I wanted it to be.”

Even if her teenage son doesn’t think she’s cool, Debra knows that she is a strong single mother. “I think that there is an internal part of us that says, ‘I need and want to be with my child all the time,’ but that’s just not the reality of our lives or our culture anymore,” she shared. “It’s a fact of life that I have to work, and I also understand that doing the creative work that I do fulfills me in a way that nothing else can. I believe that I’m able to be a better mother as a result.”

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For those days when she feels like she can’t balance her work with her family life, Debra admitted that her ex-hubby has her back. “I make choices that allow me to be very active and present with my son and because his father and I are so close,” the ginger-haired beauty said of Dan, 51, who she calls her “co-parent and friend.” Debra even admitted that the two still support each other. “If one person has to go away for work, the other person is there so that there’s always a parent with him. It’s always consistent for him.”