Julia Roberts' brother, Eric Roberts, got candid about the period of estrangement he experienced with his daughter, Emma Roberts, during her childhood.
The prolific actor was asked on the Inside of You podcast this week about the worst time in his life; he responded, "Probably the loss of relationship with my daughter."
"There's not a pain; there's a sadness for the most likely misunderstanding is what I'll have forever because we're human," he continued.
Eric welcomed Emma in 1991 with his girlfriend at the time, Kelly Cunningham, but sadly, the pair broke up, and she took full custody of their daughter.
The 68-year-old revealed in the past that he became estranged from his sister, Pretty Woman actress Julia Roberts, after she sided with Kelly on the custody issue.
Since mending their rocky relationship, Eric spoke on the podcast about enjoying being a part of his grandchild’s life and getting to know Emma more.
© Getty"I started accepting that about myself with the birth of my grandchildren," he said about living with regret over his past mistakes. "Especially the five-year-old. She was first, and she was a girl, so very vulnerable to me, and took a liking to me at two, two-and-a-half, in a very strong way…we're all very close."
"So that, and she also looks like Emma. Same coloring. And so it reminds me of what I didn't have," he finished.
Emma welcomed her son, Rhodes, with her ex, Garrett Hedlund, in 2020. Eric also has two step kids from his marriage to his wife Eliza, and three other grandchildren.
© Getty ImagesThe King of the Gypsies star opened up about his relationship with Emma in his autobiography, Runaway Train: Or the Story of My Life So Far, explaining how he was not ready to become a father.
"I loved my little daughter with the strength of Hercules, despite my own weaknesses," he wrote in the memoir.
"However, I couldn't handle the realities of an infant coming into my life, and I couldn't handle being a parent! I'm still not a father figure. Emma, on the other hand, certainly knows what that role is— now grown up and a mom herself. She's that person to her first child, Rhodes."
© InstagramEric continued to discuss the custody agreement, which he had previously said created a rift between Julia and himself when she sided with Kelly.
"I never saw myself as someone who deserved to have physical custody of Emma, not in a million years," he said in the book.
"We both knew better than that. Kelly never claimed I was trying to get physical custody of Emma, so therefore, Julia never sided with Kelly in a custody fight. There really was no custody fight. I'm very happy to be straightening this out right now."
© GettyWith their relationship on the mend and with Eric in his grandchild's life, he revealed in the book that he and Emma now show their love for each other online.
"Emma gave permission for us to interact a little bit with her on her Instagram page," he said.
"It's always good to ask because we're engaging in a very public way. This is often what private life has come to in this upside-down, misruled world so dominated by social media."
