Ryan Phillippe Was Not Prepared for Intense Fame

Ryan Phillippe admits that he wasn't prepared for the intense public attention that followed his marriage to Reese Witherspoon.

"I fooled myself into believing it would be easier than it was. To have people speculating constantly about the state of your relationship, casting aspersions and telling lies ... It took more of a toll than I was immediately aware of," he told Britain's The Times Magazine while promoting his new film, Stop-Loss.

A downside of the fame is his attitude toward the photographers that follow celebrities which he admits has rubbed off on his daughter Ava. "She's aware and it creates in her a lot of anxiety, which is partly my fault. When Ava was very young, I was young too. I'd get ... visibly angry at the paparazzi back then," he said. "She was my first child, and my instinct was to protect her."

He says the paparazzi attention has had less impact on son Deacon. "Mainly because since his birth I've realized that you've got to make it seem like less of a big deal. Ava to this day, though ... It breaks my heart to think about it, hearing her say, 'My friends at school saw a picture of me in a magazine and they made fun because I was carrying a blanket.' "

Phillippe has found a positive side of all the attention -- he is often photographed wearing t-shirts with charity Web sites he supports, such as Children's Defense and Africare, "because these pictures go around the world and untold numbers of people see them. One organization told me their web hits went up 2,000 percent overnight after one such image was syndicated."

Source: People