Christian Slater on reconnecting with his 'manic-depressive schizophrenic' father

Christian Slater sat down for a candid chat with "Nymphomaniac" director Lars Von Trier for Interview magazine, and he spoke about repairing his relationship with his estranged father.

The actor and his famous father, Michael Hawkins, went nine years without speaking. Slater describes his father as a "manic-depressive schizophrenic" with whom it was difficult to connect.

"He's always had trouble — he was a fantastic actor and extraordinarily charismatic and very, very good looking, but he had a really difficult time working with directors, collaborating with people," Slater explained.

The 45-year-old revealed that now that his father is getting help, he is finally able to start to rebuild their relationship.

"In the last few months my father actually reached out to me and wanted to reconcile and reconnect," Slater told the mag. "I was very grateful to be able to communicate with him. From a tumultuous, back-and-forth relationship, we were able to begin to build a better bridge for the both of us. So that was good."

Slater is a father himself now to his 16-year-old son, Jaden, with ex-wife Ryan Haddon, and his 13-year-old daughter, Eliana, with current wife Brittany Lopez.

“When I look around…I’m certainly happily married...I have a great relationship with my kids."