Jamie Lever says she never spent ‘father-daughter time’ with dad Johnny Lever because he ‘wasn’t available’ when she was growing up

Jamie Lever said that she and her brother Jesse only started spending time with their father, Johnny Lever, when they were ready to go off to college.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | May 18, 2024 11:39 AM IST

3 min read

Jamie Lever opened up about her bond with father. (Photo: Jamie/Instagram)

Comedian-actor Jamie Lever, daughter of Johnny Lever, has opened up about her childhood in a recent interview. She said that Johnny was often away shooting when she and her brother Jesse were growing up. She and Jesse felt this absence, but made up for it when they became adults. Jamie said that Johnny wouldn’t do regular things like drop them off at school, or talk to them about their lives. However, once they were ready to go off to college, Johnny started spending more time with the family by being selective about his work commitments.

On the latest episode of AfterHours with All About Eve, Jamie said, “Everybody had their father-daughter time, but I never really got that. And even my brother, we didn’t. Because he was shooting four or five films a day. He never really took us to school, he wasn’t available when we were back from school. Growing up, we felt like, okay, mom is always the one disciplining us, but then we don’t have dad to do the pampering that daddies do. We never really had long chats with him. We never discussed anything, our likes, dislikes. We didn’t have time for all that bonding with father.

Consequently, Jamie said that they spent most of their time with their mom, other relatives, and whoever happened to be at home. Since they were a large, joint family, with uncles, aunts, and cousins, they never felt like something was missing. She added, “But he would always try his best to cover up for the time he had lost. Every time he came home after, let’s say, a month of shooting, he would bring us so many gifts. I felt like he was the Santa Claus of the family.”

Later on, Jamie said that the actor became pickier about his work, realising he could ease up a bit. In the past, he had to support his own family as well as others, so he had to work hard. But when they went to college, he decided to spend more time with them.

She said, “But I feel like when we started going to college, he realised that he really needs to be present. Now he makes sure that every morning we sit, we have breakfast together. If he’s home, then he gives us like one hour or two hours of just, he just talks to us and just tells us about his experiences and stories from his past, struggle days, all of those things.”

Jamie recently made her Telugu debut with the film Aa Okkati Adakku.

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