In the wake of her near-death experience three years ago, Tatum O’Neal is looking to rebuild her relationship with her father, Ryan O’Neal.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, O’Neal shared her recent journey reconnecting with her dad.
Speaking before their reunion, O’Neal told the outlet, “I think he’s gotten a little bit better in his life,” adding, “I mean, he’s an amazing man, my dad, and I miss him terribly.”
When asked if she’s forgiven him for things she’s accused him of in the past, including physical and emotional abuse, she answered, “I don’t want him to die. I love him. I love my dad. I mean, I’ve had a hard life with my dad — but I still love him.”
Before the meeting, O’Neal shared the last time they saw each other was in 2020, shortly after her overdose on pain medication, opiates and morphine, which caused a stroke that put her in a coma for six weeks and has left her with lingering aphasia, which impacts her ability to speak, read and write.
Ryan O’Neal and Tatum O’Neal at the 22nd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2011. The father and daughter have had a volatile relationship over the years. (Michael Buckner/Getty Images For PSFF)
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Her son Sean, with ex-husband John McEnroe, shared a social media post of that moment in 2020, but did not disclose her condition at the time.
The photo showed O’Neal, her father Ryan, and all three of her children with McEnroe — Sean, Kevin and Emily — together. According to the Hollywood Reporter, it was the first time any of them had seen their grandfather in 17 years.
After meeting with her father in April, O’Neal told the outlet that “It went really well,” and “He was really sad. Sad about his brother.” (Ryan’s brother and Tatum’s uncle, actor Kevin O’Neal, died in January of this year.)
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O’Neal said they didn’t talk about a lot, “But there was happiness. I saw he was having coffee, and I said, ‘I want some coffee.’ He was asking me things about me, and I said, ‘I have a bad back. But I’m trying so hard. I’m alive.’ But then when I tried to text him two days ago to see if I could go back, he didn’t call me back. So then it gets a little weird, unfortunately.”
She shared a photo they took together during that meeting on her social media in April, wishing him a happy birthday.
O’Neal and her father have had a famously volatile relationship since her childhood.
At just 10, O’Neal won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in “Paper Moon,” co-starring alongside her father.
“He loved me, but then hated me, because I won the Academy Award,” O’Neal told the outlet about her relationship with her father after the win.
Ryan himself admitted it was an issue in a 2009 interview with Vanity Fair, saying, “Everybody hated everybody because of that Academy Award.”
O’Neal’s mother, Joanna Moore, had custody of her and her younger brother Griffin for a time until her drug and alcohol problems became too much, and the children went to live with Ryan.
Ryan O’Neal sits with Tatum O’Neal in a scene from the film ‘Paper Moon’, 1973. (Columbia Pictures/Getty Images)
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In The Hollywood Reporter, O’Neal reiterated claims she’s made in the past about Ryan’s abuse and allegedly sleeping with her friend, a then 18-year-old Melanie Griffith.
She also spoke about her drug addiction, and feeling suicidal ideation prior to her overdose in 2020.
“I kept on wanting to fall off [the building] and die,” she recalled.
Then she became sick with COVID and her condition was so grave, that’s when she took, by her own admission, too many pills.
“I’ve had problems with drugs for many, many years,” O’Neal said. “But I overtook my medicine, for sure. And that’s it. I fell asleep. That’s what happened.”
Tatum O’Neal has been open about her struggles with drug addiction in the past, and spoke about her 2020 overdose and coma in recent interviews after keeping it private for the past three years. (Getty Images)
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Since then, the “Bad News Bears” star has been slowly recovering, working on her improving her physical and mental health.
“It’s been hard,” O’Neal said. “I’ve had a hard time with a lot of things. I’ve had a very hard life. Not an easy life. There’s been some amazing things and some really scary things.”
