Tobey Maguire Talks About the Lessons of his Childhood

Tobey Maguire has been busy building a resume of films to his credit. In real life, the actor admits that his childhood was a challenge -- one that he doesn't want to pass on to his new daughter, Ruby Sweetheart.

Maguire's parents - who were only 18 and 20 when he was born - split up when he was only three and he grew up being bounced from one family member to the next.

Despite the changing addresses he says, "I always felt that there were people in my life who cared about me - that I was special them. It's very complicated."

"But the truth of the matter is I realized at a young age that I was responsible for myself. My feelings of love or security or happiness – they were all in my own hands. I had plenty of difficult, emotional and scary times as a kid, but I don't dwell on it."

The turbulent childhood did have some lasting effects he admits, "Growing up the way I did, I had a very serious ambition to make some money, to have some security and comfort in my life."

"When I first started being successful at this, financially speaking, I was very conservative with my money. That was definitely a product of where I came from. You know those Lotto winners who win big and then blow through all the money? That would never happen to me. ... I just never wanted to put myself in the position where my spending was so huge that I had to keep making movie after movie."

Time has taught him that he can relax some, "My mentality about that has changed a bit. [But] I feel like you could drop me anywhere in the world, anonymously, and I'd figure out how to survive. If you stripped away everything I've got – the money, the fame, the possessions, everything – I know that I'd find a way to get along, because, basically, that's what I've had to do all my life."

He's even started to put down roots of his own with fiance Jennifer Meyer and 5-month-old daughter Ruby. "I'm at that stage where I have to start thinking about where I want Ruby to grow up and go to school," he says. "And even though L.A. is pretty laid-back, maybe it would be a good idea to try a different, less ambitious kind of atmosphere."

Source: Parade Magazine