Jamie Bell understands why his father left his mother – but insisted he would never do the same to his own family.
The ‘Billy Elliot’ actor – who has a four-year-old son with ex-wife Evan Rachel Wood – admits having a child can be "really stressful" and requires a lot of "sacrifice", so he can understand why the pressure can be too much for some people.
Speaking to the Evening Standard’s ES magazine, Jamie – whose dad walked out before he was born – said: "It’s difficult raising a child. It’s really stressful. It requires a lot of you.
"You have to sacrifice your life and some people don’t want to do that. It’s not particularly noble, but I could see why the easier thing is to leave."
However, when asked if he would ever consider walking away, he responded with a very firm: "F**k no."
And the 31-year-old star – who is now married to second wife Kate Mara – insisted he couldn’t use his father’s actions as a way to inspire commitment to his family.
He added: "You can’t be thinking, ‘I’m doing this because no one ever gave me this experience’. The thing is not to love from a place of anger because that is potentially devastating."
Meanwhile, Jamie – who was 13 when he landed his breakthrough role in ‘Billy Elliot’ – admitted his own teenage fame has driven him and Evan to protect their son from the spotlight as much as they can.
He explained: "I think it’s because of my own association with childhood exposure. Not that anyone’s ever been particularly invasive with me – I go around with relative ease – but it’s just a poppa thing to think, ‘No, no, no’; that’s a different side of my life that no one sees."
The full interview with Jamie appears in this week’s issue of ES Magazine, which is out now.