Eric Roberts’ ‘painful admission’ years before skipping daughter Emma Roberts’ wedding

Eric Roberts spoke about his strained relationship with daughter Emma Roberts years before missing her wedding to actor Cody John on Saturday.

The 70-year-old Dark Knight star was asked about “the toughest time” of his life during an October 2024 episode of the Inside of You podcast. “Probably the loss of a relationship with my daughter,” he replied.

“There’s not a pain, there’s a sadness for the most likely misunderstandings we’ll have forever because we’re human,” the Oscar nominee admitted at the time.

The Runaway Train actor said he “started accepting” the sadness of their relationship when he became a grandpa.

He revealed his granddaughter, aged five at the time, “looks like Emma” and “took a liking” to the star. The young girl is one of several step-grandchildren Roberts shares with his wife, Eliza, from her previous marriage.

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Actor Eric Roberts speaks out after skipping famous daughter Emma’s wedding

“It reminds me of what I didn’t have,” he admitted. “So that might be the most painful, personally.”

The actor, who was promoting his memoir on the show, then revealed he hadn’t written much about their relationship because it was simply “indefinable”.

This isn’t the first time Eric has spoken about his relationship, or lack of, with 35-year-old daughter Emma, famous for her roles in American Horror Story, We’re the Millers and Scream 4.

Speaking on the Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson podcast in April 2026, Eric did, however, claim they were not estranged.

He said his relationship with his daughter looked “complicated through outside eyes … because they don’t get any of it.”

He’s also previously said to be “proud” of his daughter, who he welcomed in 1991 with actor and ex Kelly Cunningham.

But, earlier this week Eric confirmed he did not attend daughter Emma’s wedding on Saturday, despite the ceremony being an A-list family affair.

The actor said he “loves” his daughter, however, was notably absent from the nuptials that famous sister Julia Roberts even attended.

“I love my daughter, always have, always will,” said the Oscar nominee as he addressed his absence in a statement to Page Six on Tuesday.

“It is perfectly wonderful for her to celebrate however she wants, with whomever she wants.”

The day after Emma and Cody said ‘I do’ in their intimate Idaho wedding, Eric was spotted over 1,000 kilometres away from where his famous daughter tied the knot.

Instead, the actor was photographed leaving a Los Angeles-based gym.

Emma and Cody tied the knot in a romantic ceremony, witnessed by their close family and friend at the groom’s family estate, after four years of dating.