Billy Crudup is learning what it means to parent when your child literally towers over you.
The Morning Show actor, 57, opened up about his son William Parker, 21, during a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Fallon showed a photo of the father-son duo strolling in New York City, where William stood noticeably taller than his dad.
Crudup laughed it off, joking, “We were doing a reenactment of Lord of the Rings. I must have been on the curb. He is tall. He’s much taller. His mom has got a lot of height in her family, but not me.”
Crudup admitted that as William grew, he had to rethink how he handled discipline.
“I realized that, at a certain point, as he was growing up that I was going to have to adjust the ways in which I disciplined him,” he said, mimicking how he had to keep looking up as his son grew taller.
“So it went from, you know, ‘All right, none of that’ [to] ‘All right. That’s a time-out,’ [to] ‘You and I are gonna have to talk,’ [to] ‘Um… Daddy’s gonna take a walk. I’m gonna walk around the block, and I hope you think about that.’”
William, whom Crudup shares with ex Mary-Louise Parker, was born in January 2004 shortly after the couple’s split.
While his parents have largely kept him out of the spotlight, he’s been making more appearances in recent years, including attending the 2021 Tony Awards with his mom and younger sister, Caroline “Ash,” 18.
The 21-year-old has already started building his own career in entertainment, acting alongside Parker in TV movies such as Christmas in Conway and the series Mr. Mercedes and Colin in Black & White.
More recently, he appeared in Netflix’s Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp and in feature films Forty Winks and Atrabilious, the latter of which he directed.
Away from family life, Crudup has also been enjoying his marriage to Naomi Watts.
The couple, who tied the knot in 2023 after years together, recently turned heads at the Venice International Film Festival.
Watts stunned in a flowing beige gown with floral appliques, while Crudup looked sharp in a cream tuxedo jacket and black bowtie as they attended the premiere of Jay Kelly, a film starring Crudup alongside George Clooney.
The pair, hand in hand and smiling, looked every bit the picture of joy on their rainy Venice night out.
