Lily Collins forgives father Phil in moving open letter: ‘There’s still time to move forward’

The 27-year-old actress says that the musician wasn't the father she 'expected' 
Open letter: Lily Collins says that dad Phil wasn't the father she 'expected'
Todd Williamson/Getty Images For Relativity Media
Jennifer Ruby7 March 2017
The Weekender

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Lily Collins has said that she forgives her father Phil in a moving open letter addressing their relationship.

The actress, 27, tells the musician that he wasn’t the father she ‘expected’ but says that it’s ‘not too late’ to rebuild bridges.

Published in her new book Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me, Collins writes: “I forgive you for not always being there when I needed and for not being the dad I expected.

“I forgive the mistakes you made. And although it may seem like it’s too late, it’s not. There’s still so much time to move forward.”

The rising star was just five-years-old when Collins split from her mother, Jill Tavelman, leaving them to relocate to Switzerland for the next two decades.

The mother and daughter then moved to Los Angeles, with the young star only seeing her father during school holidays.

“We all make choices and, although I don’t excuse some of yours, at the end of the day we can’t rewrite the past,” Collins writes in the letter.

Phil Collins - In pictures

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“I’m learning how to accept your actions and vocalise how they made me feel. I accept and honour the sadness and anger I felt toward the things you did or didn’t do, did or didn’t give me.”

In the new book, which is a collection of personal essays, Collins also writes about her battle with anorexia and bulimia.

“Many of my deepest insecurities stem from these issues with my dad,” she writes.

Referencing her father’s divorce from third wife Orianne Cevey in 2008, she adds: “I couldn’t handle the pain and confusion surrounding my dad’s divorce, and I was having a hard time balancing being a teenager with pursuing two different grown-up careers.”

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