Celebrity Parents Elizabeth Banks on 'Letting Go of Guilt' as a Mom and Trusting Her Kids as They Get Older (Exclusive) Banks is mom to sons Felix and Magnus with husband Max Handelman By Angel Saunders Angel Saunders Angel Saunders has been a writer at PEOPLE since 2023. She’s previously worked at iHeartMedia, IndieWire, and REVOLT. People Editorial Guidelines and Gillian Telling Gillian Telling Gillian Telling is a Senior Reporter at People, where she has worked for 10 years. Her work has previously been seen Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone and Cosmopolitan. People Editorial Guidelines Published on October 30, 2023 01:07PM EDT Elizabeth Banks. Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Elizabeth Banks is one hard-working mamma, and that’s just fine with her. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Banks opens up about managing her career and life with her two boys. The Hunger Games actress, 49, has two children with husband Max Handelman — sons Felix, 11, and Magnus, 10. “I'm not sure that balance is, there's no balance achievable. For me, what I've come to is letting go of guilt. It's societal. But you let go of it. And I trust my husband. My husband — just being like, ‘You got it,’ ” she says of her supportive sportswriter spouse, whom she married in 2003. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman attend the "Charlie's Angels" UK Premiere. Karwai Tang/WireImage Elizabeth Banks Says People Judge Her for Using a Surrogate to Have Her Children “He's not going to do it the exact same way that I do it,” Banks added of their parenting style, noting that she’s okay with it. Her key to raising their boys: “Letting go of control.” The Pitch Perfect alum also recalls the early days of parenthood when she and Handelman were both beginners. “I was like, ‘What do you mean you don't know how to swaddle yet? We're two months in and you can't swaddle this kid?’” she says. Elizabeth Banks attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Karwai Tang/WireImage Over time, the couple found their rhythm. “I literally started coming home and being like, ‘The baby's alive. Great job.’ My standard went to that. I still hope I come home. I'm like, ‘What'd you guys eat?’ He's like, ‘We went to In-N-Out.’ I'm like, ‘Great. Okay. Don't care.’” Banks, who is the first celebrity ambassador for the beauty brand No7, says she was raised similarly. “My mom worked and I'm not mad. That's great. I'm like, great job,” the Emmy winner says. She adds that she and her mom have a “good, loving relationship,” though that wasn’t always the case, especially during her teenage years — which her sons are inching toward. “So really letting go of guilt. It's been huge for me. Really, truly, it's allowed me to just be at work and not be worried,” she says. It’s also a bit easier to ease up now that Felix and Magnus aren’t so little, she shares. “Also, my kids are a little older and I trust my kids more, too. That's a big thing, too. Look, when they're little, you're like, ‘Everything's a death trap.’ Everything's a death trap and they find it. And now I'm like, they know not to run into the road.” Elizabeth Banks. Suzi Pratt/Getty The Charlie’s Angels alum also keeps her boys close whenever possible, even if she’s working long days on set. In a February interview with PEOPLE, Banks recalled bringing her boys on location as extras while working on the 2023 horror comedy Cocaine Bear. According to the actress, Felix and Magnus seemed more interested in the snacks at craft services than Hollywood life. "They did it for an hour. They were like, 'Can we leave? We're so bored,'" she said of the youngster’s reaction. "They know that mom loves her work, and it gives me a lot of self-worth, and it makes me happy," she added.