Beverly D’Angelo, known for her role in “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” recently spoke about how becoming a mother later in life might have changed her career path.
D’Angelo, who is now 73, had twins with her former partner, Al Pacino, back in 2001. She told People magazine that after having her children, Anton and Olivia, she focused more on being a mom than on her acting career.
“If I had been more career-focused, maybe I would have had a bigger career,” she said, “but my kids were my priority.”
D’Angelo and Pacino were together from 1996 to 2003. They had their twins through in vitro fertilization.
She joked about having kids at 49, saying, “Don’t try it at home.”
D’Angelo also mentioned that she felt a bit different from the other mothers because of their age differences and different life experiences.
D’Angelo became famous after playing Patsy Cline in “Coal Miner’s Daughter” in 1980. She became a household name for her role as Ellen Griswold in “National Lampoon’s Vacation” and its sequels.
She said she kept her kids away from the Hollywood lifestyle. She didn’t even realize how popular “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” was until her kids told her everyone at school was talking about it.
Pacino has three children in total. He had his first child, Julie, in 1989. He became a father again at 83, welcoming a son named Roman in June 2023.
D’Angelo shared a video on Instagram in May 2023, talking about how she fell in love with Pacino after meeting him on a plane in 1996.
She wrote that they were together for seven years, had two children, and even after breaking up, they continued to be good co-parents. She said their relationship evolved into a deeper friendship built on honesty and acceptance.
D’Angelo said that Pacino told her he wanted her to be the mother of his children. Even though she had avoided motherhood for a long time, she was “one hundred percent in” because she was deeply in love with Pacino.
Even though their relationship became complicated, D’Angelo said that their love for their children helped them resolve conflicts and create a new kind of family.
