Billy Crudup’s Son Grew So Tall He Had to Adjust How He Disciplined Him

Billy Crudup had to make an adjustment when his son grew taller than him.

During his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Morning Show star, 57, talked about his son, William Parker, 21, towering over him. Crudup joked about his son being taller than him, before sharing how he had to change his parenting style.

“We were doing a reenactment of Lord of the Rings. I must have been on the curb,” Crudup joked, referring to a picture host Jimmy Fallon showed of the father-son duo on a recent stroll together in New York City. “He is tall. He’s much taller. His mom has got a lot of height in her family, but not me.”

“And, you know, I realized that, at a certain point, as he was growing up that I was going to have to adjust the ways in which I disciplined him,” he added, continuously adjusting his head upward for each change. “So it went from, you know, ‘All right, none of that’ [to] ‘All right. That’s a time-out,’ [to] ‘You and I are gonna have to talk,’ [to] ‘Um… Daddy’s gonna take a walk. I’m gonna walk around the block, and I hope you think about that.’ ”

Crudup shares his son with ex Mary-Louise Parker. The Watchmen star and the Weeds actress became first-time parents after welcoming William on Jan. 7, 2004. At the time, Crudup and Parker had recently broken up after eight years together.

The exes have also voiced support for each other as co-parents in the years since. When Crudup married Naomi Watts in June 2023, Parker told The Guardian: “I wish them well. And absolutely I honestly of course wish them every happiness because that’s my son’s father. So I’m happy for them. I’m happy they found each other.”

While his famous parents have often kept him out of the spotlight, William has slowly been making more public appearances over the last several years, including at the 2021 Tony Awards with Mary-Louise and his sister, Caroline “Ash,” 18.

Just last year, William joined Crudup at the 2024 Critics’ Choice Awards, where the actor won Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role on The Morning Show. During his acceptance speech, Crudup thanked his “amazing son.”

Outside of his red carpet appearances, William has acted in several TV movies and series over the years alongside his mom, including Christmas in Conway and in the series Mr. Mercedes and Colin in Black & White.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Not only that, but he has also appeared in the 2024 Netflix movie Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp as well as two feature films Forty Winks and Atrabilious, which he directed himself.

Speaking at the Utah International Film Festival in 2022, William talked about working on Forty Winks — which starred his godmother, Susan Sarandon, as well as Justin Marcel McManus, Carmen Ejogo and John Turturro — as a 17-year-old. “It was entirely self-funded, and I had no producers to help out during the production. Therefore, I had to take a lot on at 17, which was just a leap of faith for myself if anything,” he said.

More recently, William attended his father and stepmother Naomi Watts’ vow renewal ceremony in Mexico City in June 2024. In photos from the ceremony shared by actor Justin Theroux, William could be seen walking down the aisle with his father.