Halle Berry on Why the 'Constant Struggle' to Balance Work and Motherhood Means Always 'Feeling a Little Bit Guilty'

"You don't ever balance it completely," she admitted to PEOPLE.

Photo: Timothy Hiatt/Getty

Halle Berry knows being a working mom isn’t easy.

The Oscar winner, 50, got candid when asked the age-old question of how she balances work with raising two children while judging The Final Pitch for Chivas The Venture earlier this month.

“You don’t ever balance it completely,” she admitted to PEOPLE. “It’s a constant struggle of a little more time there, a little more time here, and feeling a little bit guilty all the time.”

Berry has a daughter, Nahla Ariela, 9, from her relationship with Gabriel Aubry, and son Maceo-Robert, 3, from her marriage to Olivier Martinez.

“I just keep telling all my mom friends who work that it’s ok to give ourselves a little slack sometime and not let the guilt sit on us so heavily and know that we are doing the best we can,” she added.

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The actress and entrepreneur also said that feeling satisfied professionally helps her be a better mom. “Having careers and being fulfilled that way makes us better mother,” she explained. “It makes us better able to operate in our careers with a sense of compassion and empathy that make us better businesswoman. We have to have them both and we have to keep trying to figure it out. And we get it wrong sometimes. And guess what, that is okay too.”

Berry hopes her children recognize her example. “For both of my kids, but I have a daughter and she is going to have to work and I want her to work and have that independence and be the captain of her ship in life,” she said. “She is learning that this is what she will have to do to.”

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When she does have free time, Berry said, “It’s all kid-related.” She explained, “When I happen to have free time I am always thinking about what can I do with them. What can I do to have those moments really matter. I want that quality time because I know quantity is sometimes limited.”

Asked if she would give any advice to her younger self, Berry answered, “I like where I have arrived. I assume my successes and my failures have been a part of my wonderful journey and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

The busy actress currently has two films on the horizon: Kidnap, which hits theaters Aug. 4, and Kingsman: The Golden Circle, opening Sept. 22.