Oscar-winning actress Sissy Spacek cherishes her many professional accomplishments, but it’s in motherhood that she considers her greatest triumph.
Alongside her husband, production designer Jack Fisk, Spacek takes pride in raising two accomplished daughters, 40-year-old Schuyler Fisk and 34-year-old Madison Fisk. Beyond the glamour of Hollywood, here we offer a glimpse into the family life of an iconic actress and her beautiful offspring.
Sissy Spacek on motherhood
In a 1984 interview, the 73-year-old actress Sissy Spacek shared how becoming a mother deepened her appreciation for life, stating, “Everything means more.” Balancing her acting career with motherhood, she prioritized her family, making significant decisions like moving and turning down roles to be with her daughter, Schuyler.
Reflecting on this, she told the Washington Post in 2001, “I couldn’t leave my baby. Film is an amazing art form, but so is life. When your career and your life can work together and one can support the other, it’s just great.”
Schuyler is ‘proud’ of her mother
Schuyler has also expressed her gratitude and appreciation towards the ‘Carrie’ actress from time and time onwards. Speaking to Yahoo! Entertainment, Schuyler expressed her pride, saying, “I’m so proud of her. I just think she’s so amazing. She’s smart and driven and talented, and she’s really committed to doing good work.”
In addition to her successful career, she has embraced the role of a fantastic grandmother to her grandchildren. Sharing her joy with Esquire, she said, “I have grandchildren now. It’s the greatest thing that I’ve experienced. I’m very content … I think contentment is what we need and just to be. I spend a lot of time with my family and then work every so often.”
Here’s a sneak peek into Sissy Spacek’s life as a mother of two daughters, Schuyler and Madison Fisk.
Schuyler Fisk, 40
View this post on Instagram
Sissy and Jack welcomed their first child, Schuyler Fisk, on July 8, 1982, in Los Angeles, California. When Schuyler was a young child, the family relocated to Virginia, opting for a quieter life on a horse farm away from the glitz of Hollywood. Schuyler has since acknowledged that she initially “hated” the move at the time.
“I wanted to be in the mix of everything, and I told them,” she shared with People. “They love to make fun of me now that when I was 6 I told them they were ruining my career because we weren’t living in Los Angeles.”
In hindsight, she’s “grateful” that they made that they chose the more serene lifestyle. “I mean, yes, we would go off to film sets with my parents, but I also played sports and rode horses and was really involved in my community and I’m just grateful [for that],” she added.
Growing up with famous parents provided Schuyler with experiences that a normal kid could never relate to, such as playing with her mom’s Oscar as a child. Recalling the memory, she mentioned, “It was in her closet. That thing is heavy. Really heavy. I can’t believe how rough, looking back, that I would play with it. But yeah, it’s still standing.”
Schuyler’s dream of becoming an actress materialized with her breakthrough in the teen comedy “Orange County” alongside Colin Hanks. Reflecting on her career path, she shared, “There wasn’t really a moment where I’m like, ‘I want to be an actor and musician.’ It just was obvious, I guess. I threw myself into it.”
At 17, Schuyler made a decisive move, graduating high school early and seeking her parents’ support to move to L.A. Despite her age, their backing was “shockingly very supportive.” Maintaining a plan and not going too wild in pursuing her dreams, she acknowledged, “I’m lucky they’ve supported my art.”
Her aspirations extended to music, and they converged when her song “Life After” featured in the soundtrack of “Sam & Kate.” This parallel echoes her mom’s experience when Sissy worked on a rendition of the title song for “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” earning her a Grammy nomination.
Schuyler holds deep admiration for both of her parents and welcomes any advice her mom offers. She expressed, “I respect my parents and their commitment to their art, and I take all the advice — I love it. I look up to them and I admire them and I respect their careers and their choices and their dedication and work ethic. Any advice they can give, I’m happy.”
Despite the chance to take on her mother Sissy’s iconic role in a “Carrie” reboot, Schuyler politely declined. Explaining her decision to Yahoo! Entertainment, she stated, “It just didn’t feel like the right thing for so many reasons, so it was never gonna happen. I feel like ‘Carrie’ is such an epic film as it is, so the idea of trying to do anything else to recreate it just didn’t feel necessary. It was sweet that they thought of me, but it just wasn’t the right thing.”
In 2019, Schuyler revealed her battle with endometriosis in a candid Instagram post. Despite experiencing symptoms since her teens, she wasn’t diagnosed until the age of 36. After undergoing surgery, she described it as a “gamechanger” in alleviating her pain. Embracing a mostly plant-based diet also proved beneficial for her.
Schuyler is fortunate to have a supportive family, as she said, “My parents are great people. I think the best advice they’ve given me is just leading by example and the way they choose to put their family first.”
On Mother’s Day 2020, Schuyler expressed her gratitude to her mother. In an Instagram post, she wrote, “Thank you for making me. and for nurturing me. and for loving me. for encouraging me. supporting me. for always being there for me. and for showing me what true unconditional love is. You are so beautiful inside and out! I want to be just like you when I grow up!”
View this post on Instagram
Madison Fisk, 34
Sissy and Jack welcomed their younger daughter, Madison “VM” Fisk, on September 21, 1988, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Reminiscing the past, Schuyler wrote about how delighted she was to become a big sister in a heartwarming birthday Instagram post in 2018.
“I remember this day like it was yesterday,” she wrote. “I remember getting picked up from school early that day because my little sister was coming! I remember feeling like she was MY baby because I was the one who had wished for her for so long on the first star I saw every single night.”
Reflecting on their bond, Schuyler expressed, “This tiny little baby has grown into such a strong, smart, fiercely talented, courageous woman who is the kind of person that is just there for you when you need her. I am lucky to call her my sister and friend.”
Madison, an artist like her father, studied painting, video art, and sculpture. Initially involved in film set design, she later pursued an independent artistic path, winning the Herradura Barrel Art competition in 2014. Madison also designs jewelry and shares her creations on Instagram. She describes herself as an “animal lover, realistic optimist, and dad joke fan.”