Christian Slater is ''very grateful'' to have reconciled with his father.

The 'Heathers' actor had been estranged from his dad Michael Hawkins - who suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder - for nine years until recently, but now his parent is ''in a place now, getting a lot of help'', he is happy they have begun to repair their relationship.

He said: ''In the last few months my father actually reached out to me and wanted to reconcile and reconnect.

''I was very grateful to be able to communicate with him. From a tumultuous, back-and-forth relationship, we were able to begin to build a better bridge for the both of us. So that was good.''

These days, the 45-year-old actor is ''happily married'' to Brittany Lopez - who he wed in 2013 after three years of dating - and has a ''great relationship'' with his kids, 16-year-old Jaden, and Eliana, 13, who he had with ex-wife Ryan Haddon.

And the 'Mr. Robot' actor is ''excited'' that Jaden is planning to move in with him and Brittany.

Speaking to Lars Von Trier for Interview magazine: ''I'm excited to get the opportunity to be a bit more of a father in his life.''

And Christian admitted he lives in a ''hole of darkness'' and can find it hard to acknowledge just how ''golden'' his life is.

Asked if he is ''living a golden life'' right now, he replied: ''It is probably more golden than I will ever acknowledge, you know? I have that glass-half-empty syndrome, and it takes a great deal of effort to climb out of the hole of darkness that I choose to live in mentally.''