According to actress Rachel Weisz, being a new mum can be “brutal”. The oscar winner, who had her first child with director fiancé Darren Aronofsky recently, freely admits motherhood is not all it’s cracked up to be. Rachel says, “Being a mother has been incredible. But it can also be brutal. People think you’re totally in bliss and that babies are always angelic creatures, but it’s not like that all the time.” The couple also had the worry of a health scare after their baby boy Henry was born with a hernia and needed an operation. But the British beauty has had her share of challenges to get through – most notably moving to New York just one day before the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. “I was staying in SoHo and saw it happen,” she recalls. “It was so tragic, but New Yorkers behaved so beautifully. It didn’t occur to me to leave.” She intends to stay in New York largely because of Darren who hails from the Big Apple. “Darren is really passionate about the city,” she said. “He’s from Brooklyn, and he says he has concrete running through his veins.” [20 September 2006]