Molly Bernard Reveals Why She Calls Hilary Duff ‘Mommy’ (Unique)

Molly Bernard could not survive the brand new mother life with out Hilary Duff by her facet.

On Friday, Nov. 8, the actress, 36, chatted with PEOPLE following her Broadway debut as Rachel Dahl in Cult of Love, a brand new present that follows the Christian household the Dahls as they reunite for a chaotic Christmas dinner.

Bernard describes her character to PEOPLE, saying, “I play Rachel Dahl, who’s married to Mark, the oldest son. I’m a Jew, which is slightly arduous for the hyper-Christian household that we’re in,” she says, including, “I believe Rachel is a extremely vital instance for a way the household does or doesn’t deal with distinction. Rachel and Mark are at a precipice of change of their marriage.”

In February 2023, Bernard and her spouse Hannah Lieberman welcomed their first youngster, a “sassy child lady.” She tells PEOPLE that she could not have gotten via the previous two years with out the recommendation of Youthful costar Duff, who’s a mother to daughters Townes, 6 months, Mae James, 3, and Banks Violet, 5, with husband Matthew Koma, and son Luca Cruz, 12, with ex-husband Mike Comrie.

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“Daily she provides me motherhood recommendation,” Bernard, who’s the godmother of Duff’s 4 children, tells PEOPLE. “I simply name her ‘Mommy,’ and I even stopped saying, ‘Sorry, I am doing transference on you.’ It is simply, ‘Hello, mother!'”

She provides that on the subject of motherhood, “You may’t do it alone. It is essentially the most humbling, exhilarating expertise. And you needn’t only a village, you want a complete group of cheerleaders and people who find themselves going to do it with you.”

Bernard shares with PEOPLE that her daughter and Duff’s youngsters are nice buddies, and their age gaps are “completely slotted” in between one another.

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“I really feel like my daughter was a pleasant little prep for his or her new child that got here in,” Bernard provides of Duff and Koma’s new child Townes. “They’re obsessed along with her. It is nice.”

Changing into a mother to her child lady has been “essentially the most unbelievable expertise of my life,” Bernard tells PEOPLE, including, “I do know it is cliché.”

“I used to be terrified to grow to be a mother —It is scary! And it is the best, most loving occasion that has ever occurred to me,” she says sweetly.