Eric Roberts knows he could have been a better father to his daughter Emma Roberts.
In his recently released memoir, “Runaway Train: Or the Story of My Life So Far,” the 68-year-old actor spoke about his complicated relationship with 33-year-old Emma.
“I loved my little girl with the strength of Hercules, despite my own weaknesses,” he wrote, according to Entertainment Weekly. “However, I couldn’t handle the reality of a baby coming into my life, and I couldn’t handle being a parent!”
Eric, who has Emma with his ex Kelly Cunningham, admitted he is “still not a father figure”.
“Emma, on the other hand, knows exactly what that role is – she’s grown up now and a mother herself,” he said. “She is that person for her first child, Rhodes.”
Emma became a mother in December 2020 when she gave birth to her and Garrett Hedlund’s son Rhodes. The former couple separated in 2022.
In his memoirs, Eric looked back on his decision to “give up” Cunningham when Emma was only seven months old.
“We went through a lot, and (Cunningham) saw me at my worst – and yet she stayed for a while, although I’m sure she wondered whether she should or not,” he recalls. “We both wanted a child – maybe I wanted it more than she did – but we both wanted to be parents.”
“The pregnancy was very exciting,” Eric continued. “I fell madly in love with Emma from the first moment I saw her.”
However, Eric realized that his struggle with cocaine addiction at the time left him unable to be a father to Emma.
“The worst consequence of my drug use was losing Emma,” he wrote. “I was still high on coke when she was born, which explains everything.”
The contestant on season 33 of Dancing with the Stars got into legal trouble due to his addiction in the 1980s. He got clean in 1995, four years after Emma was born, after attending a court-ordered rehab for 18 months.
In a recent interview with “Today,” Eric spoke openly about the lessons he learned from his previous battle with addiction.
“Once you get over it, you don’t have to be punished for it. You don’t have to punish yourself,” he said. “You can get over it, deal with it and share your experience. You have to be a good example – and the only way to be a good example is to get over it, to be a victim. And that’s a little tricky because we have drug addicts who are victims. We have to fight that every day.”
He also acknowledged that his family members – including his famous sister Julia Roberts – felt “alienated” by his addiction.
“I owe my family a lot because I love them. I owe them a lot because they love me.”
Earlier this year, Eric said on the podcast “Still Here Hollywood” that he “shouldn’t” talk about Emma or Julia, 56.
He then praised Emma and her acting skills.
“I’m in love with my daughter’s work,” Eric said of the “American Horror Story” actress. “I just can’t believe how amazing she’s turned out.”
“I’m so proud of her I can hardly see straight,” he continued. “From her performance in ‘Maybe I Do’ until now, she fills me with pride and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, here she goes again.’ And I’m just so happy to be her dad because she’s amazing. And I’m so proud.”
