Julianne Moore is suffering from empty nest syndrome after her eldest son left for college.

Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore

The 56-year-old actress is still reeling from her 19-year-old son Caleb's departure from the family home as he heads off for more education but her husband Bart Freundlich and their 15-year-old daughter Liv are helping her through it.

She said: "It's shocking for parents when their kids get older. Suddenly they're 18 and doing things on their own. Childhood seems to last for ever, but adolescence goes by in a flash. I was looking at my son's room and I was, like, 'He's never going to be back here.' And my husband said, 'He'll be back, but not in the same way.' College is a halfway house - they're on their own and responsible, but obviously not entirely responsible."

However, the family feel it is important to always keep in touch with each other and use various different platforms to do so.

She added: "We do family texts, too. We text all the time ... emojis, Bitmojis, Snapchat. All that stuff."

And the 'Still Alice' star has quipped she is more of the organisational one compared to her husband, who she has affectionately dubbed the "director of entertainment and food services".

She told the Daily Mail's You magazine: "He'll take our son surfing; he'll play basketball with our daughter. I'm much better at organising all the school stuff and meetings. I once joked that in my family I am president of business and he's director of entertainment and food services."