Ryan PhillippeRyan Phillippe has revealed he finds it hard to deal with life in the public eye - and his daughter Ava finds it hard too.

Speaking to The Times Magazine recently, Ryan explained he didn’t anticipate the media whirlwind that would kick up around his split from Reese Witherspoon at the end of 2006: “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 added the couple’s eight year old daughter Ava is also “aware” of her parent’s fame “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. She was my first child, and my instinct was to protect her.”

He took a different approach with four year old 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.’”