Kelsey Grammer, now a dad of eight at 70, shares the parenting lesson he didn’t grasp as a young father
Kelsey Grammer reflected on what he wishes he had understood as a young dad in the 1980s after becoming a father again at 70.
The "Frasier" star, who was 28 when he welcomed his first child, daughter Spencer, in 1983, announced the arrival of his eighth child, son Christopher in October. During an interview with Fox News Digital, Grammer, who is starring in the new survival thriller "Turbulence," shared the parenting advice that he would give his younger self.
"Maybe be a little more patient. I didn't quite understand with my first child how a kid could cry all day," he said with a laugh.
Grammer continued, "I thought, ‘Wow, this is really challenging.’ And I thought, ‘How am I gonna get through this?’ But I did, you know, and she did. And we were really close when she was a little girl. You know, I don't even really see her that much anymore."
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"She's a terrific kid," he added. "But yeah, you know what your lives, you know, they just go in different circles, and you start to just expand out from there. And once in a while, if we have a chance to get back together, it's really nice."
The actor also has a daughter Greer, 33, with ex Barrie Buckner, as well as daughter Mason, 24, and son Jude Gordon, 21, with ex-wife Camille Grammer. Grammer married flight attendant Kayte Walsh in 2011. Along with Christopher, Grammer and the U.K. native are parents to daughter Faith, 13, and sons Gabriel, 11, and Auden, 9.
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While speaking with Fox News Digital, Grammer shed some light on the relationships that he shares with each of his children and how they differ.
"I think they've all had their own sense of what their dad was," he said. "I know that a lot of my older kids' understanding of who I am comes through the lens of their mothers. Well, I disappointed their moms quite a bit."
"So I suppose there's a little bit of that in there," Grammer continued. "But I've done my best to kind of maintain or redefine a relationship with every one of my kids, and some to varying degrees of success. You know, it's a mixed bag."
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"And still the door isn't closed," he added. "So there's always new ways to define what's now to be. And I love them beyond description. I love them beyond words. And I hope that that is what carries the day for all of us eventually is that there is this connection that's our family."
Grammer announced the birth of his youngest child during the Oct. 27 episode of Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle and Rider Strong's "Pod Meets World" podcast. The following month, Grammer raved about welcoming Christopher, telling People magazine that having the newborn join the family was "awesome and fantastic"
"The family's ecstatic," Grammer said. "We're all really having a great time. It's really lovely."
"We are closer than we've ever been as a family, and I'm proud of that," he added.
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In Grammer's latest film "Turbulence," he plays a hot air balloon operator named Harry. The movie's official plot synopsis reads, "Zach and Emmy’s romantic retreat aboard a hot-air balloon takes a terrifying turn when they are hijacked by a sinister third passenger with a link to Zach’s past. As the mystery of their secret relationship is revealed, their spectacular ride becomes a brutal mental chess-match and a lethal battle high in the sky."
"Turbulence" also stars Hera Hilmar, Jeremy Irvine and Olga Kurylenko.
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While speaking with Fox News Digital, Grammer explained what drew him to the role.
"My initial reaction was basically, I think I figured I could do it," he said. "That's what I usually would do. And have I done it before? Well, not exactly. I mean, oddly enough, he's a little like Captain Tom Dodge was in 'Down Periscope' [Grammer's 1996 comedy]. Because he's a guy that's running a boat, basically."
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"He knows how to sail, he understands the wind, understands the relationship between the environment and where he is in his vessel," Grammer continued. "He's a good skipper. So I mean, I thought, yeah, I've done that before, but it doesn't go as he hopes it's gonna go that day, which is really interesting. And he's a terrific character, avuncular and friendly, and you feel safe around him. And that was something I haven't played a lot. So it was fun to do."
Grammer shared that filming the movie was physically challenging because he had sustained a foot injury at the time, so it was important for him to "stay in shape."
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"I had a cast on my foot when I shot the thing," he said. "I'd been I'd been limping around for a few months by then already. It was challenging. But I knew they were shooting above the waist most of the time, and I said, ‘You just have to keep the foot out of it.’ At one point I hoisted myself up on the side of the basket, and they just didn't shoot the cast. It was fine. I was fit enough to climb up there, it was all good."
Grammer also reflected on what he wanted audiences to take away from watching "Turbulence."
"Just a good time," he told Fox News Digital. "And in the end, you know, there's something good that lasts. There's a little tip of the magic wand on somebody then that says, 'Yeah, you should be here. You deserve to be here. And you made it."
"Turbulence" will be released in theaters and on digital platforms on Dec. 12.