Eric Roberts Opens Up About 'Sadness' in 'Loss of Relationship' with Daughter Emma

The actor -- who welcomed Emma, 33, with his ex Kelly Cunningham in 1991 -- has previously opened up about how he became estranged from his famous sister, Julia Roberts, and lost custody of the American Horror Story star while he was struggling with drug and alcohol abuse in the 1990s.

During an appearance on the latest episode of the Inside of You podcast, Eric, 68, was asked to name the "toughest period" of his life, to which he replied, "Probably the loss of relationship with my daughter."

After Eric confirmed to host Michael Rosenbaum that he talks about his relationship with his daughter in his recently-released memoir, Runaway Train: Or the Story of My Life So Far, Rosenbaum suggested that this loss is surely a "big chapter" in the book.

"Well, the problem is it should be," Eric admitted. "The problem is it's indefinable. So I'll let you be the judge of that."

"... There's not a pain, there's a sadness for the, most likely, misunderstandings [that] I'll have forever. Because we're human," he continued.

The King of the Gypsies star added that he "started to accept that" about himself when he became a grandfather. Eric has four grandchildren, including Emma's 3-year-old son Rhodes, whom she shares with ex Garrett Hedlund, and three grandkids from his two stepchildren.

"Especially the five-year-old," he told Rosenbaum. "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, and named my wife 'Famma,' and 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."

In his memoir, Runaway Train, which was released last month, Eric reflected on the ups and downs he's had in his career and his life, and how it impacted his relationships with Julia and Emma.

Eric previously made headlines in 2018 for some of the comments he made while opening up about his estrangement from his famous sister.

"If it wasn't for me, there would be no Julia Roberts and no Emma Roberts as celebrities, as actresses, and I'm very proud of that," he told Vanity Fair, at the time.

While The Dark Knight star said in that same interview that he had made up with his sister amid the birth of her twins in 2004, there was a bit of a falling out amongst the family -- as much as he tried denying it at the time -- and now, with the release of his memoir, Eric has walked back some of those comments, and asked his sister for forgiveness.

In his book, per People, Eric wrote, "I hope Julia will accept this public apology. It was an asinine thing to have said."

He added that his struggles with drugs directly affected his relationships with his family, including their other sister, Lisa Roberts Gillan.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they suffered from PTSD from when it was dangerous to be around me," Eric wrote. "Lisa and Julia needed love and protection -- instead they got fear and uncertainty."

Eric -- who recently competed on Dancing With the Stars -- went on to say, "I imagine I will remain as Julia's brother and Emma Roberts' dad for the rest of my life. I'd like to make good on that, to move aside proudly and with grace. That's part of the reason for writing the book."

Emma nor Julia have publicly addressed their relationships with Eric.