Eric Roberts knows he could’ve been a better father to daughter Emma Roberts.
The 68-year-old actor opened up about his complicated relationship with Emma, 33, in his newly-released memoir, “Runaway Train: Or the Story of My Life So Far.”
“I loved my little daughter with the strength of Hercules, despite my own weaknesses,” he wrote, per Entertainment Weekly. “However, I couldn’t handle the realities of an infant coming into my life, and I couldn’t handle being a parent!”
Eric, who shares Emma with his ex Kelly Cunningham, admitted that he’s “still not a father figure.”
“Emma, on the other hand, certainly knows what that role is — now grown up and a mom herself,” he said. “She’s that person to her first child, Rhodes.”
Emma became a parent in Dec. 2020 when she gave birth to her and Garrett Hedlund’s son Rhodes. The former couple split in 2022.
In his memoir, Eric looked back on his decision to “abandon” Cunningham when Emma was only 7 months old.
“We went through a lot, and [Cunningham] saw me at my absolute worst — yet she stayed, for a time, though I’m sure she questioned whether or not she should,” he recalled. “We both wanted a child — maybe I did more than she — but we both wanted to become parents.”
“The pregnancy was very exciting,” Eric continued. “I fell madly in love with Emma the first minute I saw her.”
But Eric noted that his struggles with cocaine addiction at the time led to his inability to be a parent to Emma.
“The biggest consequence of my drug use was losing Emma,” he wrote. “I was still impossibly coked up when she was born, which explains everything.”
The “Dancing with the Stars” Season 33 contestant got into legal trouble due to his addiction in the 1980s. He got sober in 1995, four years after Emma was born, after attending court-ordered rehab for 18 months.
Eric opened up about the lessons he learned from his past addiction battle in a recent interview on “Today.”
“Once you’re through it, you don’t have to be punished. You don’t have to punish yourself,” he shared. “You can come through it and be fine about it and share your experience. You have to be a good example — and the only way to be a good example is to get through being a casualty. And it’s a bit of a trick because we have drug addicts who are casualties. We have to fight it everyday.”
He also acknowledged his family members — including his famous sister, Julia Roberts — were “alienated” by his addiction.
“The family, I owe them a lot because I love them. I owe them a lot because they love me.”
Earlier this year, Eric said on the “Still Here Hollywood” podcast that he’s “not supposed” to talk about Emma or Julia, 56.
He then proceeded to praise Emma and her acting chops.
“I am in love with my daughter’s work these days,” Eric shared about the “American Horror Story” actress. “Like, I can’t believe how great she’s become.”
“I’m so proud of her I can’t see straight,” he continued. “Since her performance in ‘Maybe I Do’ until right now, she overwhelms me with pride and just, ‘Oh my God, here she goes again.’ And I’m just so happy to be her dad, because she’s kicking ass. And I’m so proud.”
