Christian Slater’s Favorite Role? A Good Father

Speaking of unconditional love, you just became a new dad, again.

I have four — [ages] 26, 23, 5 and 5 months. [Slater shares a daughter and newborn son with wife Brittany Lopez, and the older kids, Jaden and Eliana, with ex-wife Ryan Haddon.]

Incredible. Congratulations.

It is incredible. I've never been — it's scary sometimes to say it,  but happier. It really feels like just one of the best times of my life. I don't know, I just love my home. The hardest thing that I have to do, really, is leave home. I used to run out the door and go to work, and as much as I love what it is that I do, leaving home and leaving my daughter, leaving my little boy, is hard.

You've been acting for so long —  since you were a kid, basically.

That's what I keep saying to my daughter. She's 5. I'm like, Come on already. Let's get to work. Get out the door. Earn your keep.

Christian Slater first gained fame in the 1988 cult classic "Heathers."

New World Pictures/Getty Images

So you would encourage your kids to get into the business?

No. No, no. I was just joking. I want her to certainly have a real childhood. That's what my wife and I are mainly focused on. To find her own path at an appropriate time for her age. For me, I was discovered really at a very early age — was 8 or 9 when I started. I had a mother [Mary Jo Slater] and a father [Michael Hawkins] who were in show business, so it did feel organic.

What's the best part about getting older?

I think just having the experience of life, finding out who it is that you are really interested in being. When you're younger, it's a lot more confusing, a lot more challenging, or at least it was for me. But I've gotten the opportunity to get to know myself, certainly a lot better. Patience is great and just the appreciation — like I was saying, when I was younger, I was always running to the next thing or wanting to be at the next party or wherever it was. I was never really quite happy or satisfied with my surroundings, as great as they were. I was having a hard time finding that peace and that acceptance. So I spent a lot of time running around, and now it's just nice to kind of have my life and appreciate it. I love my wife. All right, I'll stop gushing.

What advice would you tell your 21-year-old self?

The problem I think with that guy is he probably wouldn't even listen to me. He was stubborn, unhappy, frustrated —  just felt like suffering was a necessary part of life, of work. That poor kid, he had a lot of things to work out. And it is hard. You have to put in a lot of work to sort of shift your attitudes and your opinions on life. I feel like it is a continual process, of course, but I've been steering the ship in a different direction, at least for the last 20 years, and I'm certainly grateful for that.

What would you like to take on in the next decade?

I love theater — that's where I started. So anytime to get the opportunity to go back to the stage. It's interesting, during the [latest Hollywood writers] strike [May to September 2023], I couldn't do anything else. So I got involved in a lot of readings for plays. There's a thing here in [New York] called The 24 Hour Plays, where you go, you meet, and then the writers go home that night, and they write a play, and you have to come in at 8 a.m. and memorize the play, and then do it in front of a live audience that evening. So all that just kind of reignited my passion for theater.

You have a play lined up. What is it?

The Sam Shepard play Curse of the Starving Class. And it's me and Calista Flockhart and Cooper Hoffman. [The drama will run off-Broadway at the Pershing Square Signature Center in February 2025.]

What does it take to be a good dad? You've had a second opportunity.

I really have. It's being there. My head was in so many different places when I was younger and I had my first go with children. I love them dearly. I want nothing but the best for them, of course. But I was certainly a lot more distracted, let's say, when they were younger. And trying to just work and keep things going to the best of my ability. Right now it feels great to be in a home that I feel comfortable in and safe in and loved in. So it's just a nicer atmosphere.