Rose Byrne says she's found motherhood 'challenging' as she opens up about shame and 'losing part of yourself'

Rose Byrne has opened up about finding motherhood 'challenging,' admitting that it can come with feelings of shame and a sense of 'losing part of yourself.'

The actress, 46, shares two sons - Rocco, born in 2016, and Rafael, born in 2017 - with her long-term partner, fellow actor Bobby Cannavale.

While discussing her new 'mum noir' film If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, Rose reflected on how she can relate to her character's experience of motherhood. 

She explained that the constant demands of parenting can mean children sometimes 'lose their shape,' blurring a parent's ability to see them as a distinct little person.

She told The Times: 'That's totally an experience I've had as a parent and there is shame you feel around that.'

Rose continued: 'You don't want to feel like you don't love your child, but there is a grief around becoming a mother, because you lose part of yourself that you will never, ever, ever, ever, ever get back.

'It's OK to grieve that — in fact, we should. Because it's a before and an after.'

It comes after  Rose scored her first-ever Oscars nomination.

Off the back of her Golden Globes win, the Australian actress is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for If I Had Legs I'd Kick You.

'I can't believe it. I feel like I've snuck into the back of the bus,' she told The Hollywood Reporter.

'The thought of the legacy and the pageantry and the scale of it, it's impossible to not have that value.

'Of course, that huge kind of legacy and tradition of this ceremony is just undeniable, so to be a small part of that is unbelievable.'

She also gave an update on her pet bearded dragon that her husband Bobby Cannavale and their kids went to get while she was at the Globes.

'He's doing well! It's for the kids. The kids are very happy,' she added.

During her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, Rose said her brother George was her date on the night and revealed the bizarre reason her US actor husband could not attend the awards show.

'Thanks to my husband Bobby. He isn't here because we're getting a bearded dragon, and he went to a reptile expo in New Jersey,' she said.

Rose faces strong competition for the Academy Award, going up against fellow Golden Globe winner and Irish star Jessie Buckley, Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue, Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value and Emma Stone for Bugonia.

She beat both Emma and Kate for the Golden Globes trophy earlier this month, winning Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Meanwhile, fellow Aussie Jacob Elordi has also been nominated for his first-ever Oscar in the Actor in a Supporting Role category for his role in Frankenstein.

He is up against Benicio del Toro - One Battle After Another, Delroy Lindo - Sinners, Sean Penn - One Battle After Another, and Stellan Skarsgård- Sentimental Value.

Ryan Coogler's Sinners made history as it earned the most Academy Awards nominations ever, with 16, including the biggest prize of the night, Best Picture. It broke the record of 14 previously shared by 1950's All About Eve, 1997's Titanic and 2016's La La Land.

The horror flick is one of the ten films up for the honour alongside Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value and Train Dreams.