Tatum O'Neal cried "really hard" before her father's memorial service.
Tatum O'Neal was emotional ahead of saying a final goodbye to her father
The 60-year-old star had a turbulent relationship with Ryan O'Neal, but they had reconciled their differences before he passed away in December aged 82, and the 'Paper Moon' actress admitted it was unusual for her to feel so emotional ahead of the celebration of life event on Saturday (27.01.24), which took place at the DGA Theater Complex in Hollywood.
She told 'Entertainment Tonight': "It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. I sure love my dad.
"I actually cried this morning, which is rare, you know. I had actually stopped crying throughout my life, and I cried this morning really hard. It was beautiful. I love my dad, always."
The 'Rescue Me' actress' father always "meant the world" to her.
Asked what she'd tell Ryan if she could speak to him one last time, she said: "I love you, daddy. I always have, and I always will.
"You meant the world to me."
Tatum will always cherish working with Ryan on their 1974 movie 'Paper Moon', for which she became the youngest actor to ever win an Oscar at the age of just 10.
She said: "It was fantastic."
Tatum previously admitted she felt "very lucky" that she and "ended on such good terms".
She told PEOPLE: "I feel great sorrow with my father's passing. He meant the world to me. I loved him very much and know he loved me too. I'll miss him forever and I feel very lucky that we ended on such good terms."
The actress previously claimed their difficulties originated with her Oscar win.
She told The Hollywood Reporter: "He loved me, but then hated me, because I won the Academy Award. Weird [stuff] happened. It kind of went in the wrong direction to happiness."
In July 2023, ahead of her first meeting with her father since September 2020, Tatum added: "My father and I are going to have a conversation. We’re just going to talk. I hope it will work out. We’ll see. I pray that it will.
"I think he’s gotten a little bit better in his life. I mean, he’s an amazing man, my dad, and I miss him terribly.
“I don’t want him to die. I love him. I love my dad. I mean, I’ve had a hard life with my dad — but I still love him.”
Speaking on the documentary series 'Ryan and Tatum: The O’Neals', Ryan said: "I had this peculiar thing on 'Paper Moon', and that is the director insisted she wasn’t my daughter. The director insisted that my character, Moses, never thought for a second that this was his daughter. So he wanted me to make sure that I didn’t think of her as my daughter. And maybe it never wore off.”