Johnny Depp and girlfriend Amanda Heard
Johnny Depp admits his breakup from Vanessa Paradis was "unpleasant."
The 'Lone Ranger' star, who split from the French actress, 40, after 14 years together in June 2012, with whom he has two children, Lily-Rose, 14, and Jack, 11, says their busy schedules caused their relationship to crumble but insists he will always care about Vanessa.
The actor, who celebrated his 50th birthday on June 9, told the July issue of Rolling Stone magazine: "The last couple years have been a bit bumpy. At times, certainly unpleasant, but that's the nature of breakups, I guess, especially when there are kiddies involved.
"Relationships are very difficult. Especially in the racket that I'm in because you're constantly away or they're away and so it's hard. It wasn't easy on her. It wasn't easy on me. It wasn't easy on the kids. So, yeah. The trajectory of that relationship -- you play it out until it goes, one thing leads to another. So for whatever reason that ceases, it doesn't stop the fact that you care for that person, and they're the mother of your kids, and you'll always know each other, and you're always gonna be in each other's lives because of those kids. You might as well make the best of it."
The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star, who is now dating actress Amanda Heard, 27, believes his children helped him to cope with the split.
He said: "In terms of the breakup, I definitely wasn't going to rely on the drink to ease things or cushion the blow or cushion the situation.
"'Cause that could have been fatal. I felt it was my duty to be real clear throughout that. I had something pretty serious to focus on, really, which was making sure that my kids were gonna be cool.
"The thing is, kiddies come first. You can't shield them, because then you'd be lying. So you can at least be honest with your kids, and you say the absolute truth to your child -- that was very important to not pussyfoot around.
"One thing I know is they feel loved and secure and happy and needed and necessary and a part of something."
Tagged in Johnny Depp Vanessa Paradis