Ed Burns’ advice on surviving ‘bittersweet’ transition to becoming an empty nester

Ed Burns officially became an empty nester this year. 

The 56-year-old actor and filmmaker shares two children with wife Christy Turlington: Grace, 20, and Finn, 18.

Burns, who recently published his first novel, “A Kid from Marlboro Road,” told Fox News Digital that he and his supermodel spouse made sure to plan projects and activities well in advance of their kids heading off to college. It has helped soften the blow. 

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“It’s funny, Christy and I were laughing that we both made sure that we were each incredibly busy this fall, so we haven’t had to really face it,” Burns admitted, noting that the transition has been “bittersweet.”

“Obviously, we’re so happy that the kids are happy and off starting their journey and loving their college experiences,” he said. “But you can’t help but miss them like crazy.”

Burns shared that he’s holding up just fine “for now.”

“Obviously, we’re so happy that the kids are happy and off starting their journey and loving their college experiences. But you can’t help but miss them like crazy.”

— Ed Burns

From left: Ed Burns, Grace Burns, Christy Turlington and Finn Burns in New York City circa 2007. Grace and Finn are now 20 and 18. (Patrick McMullan and Shane ONeill/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

But he has kept his word on staying busy. He’s embarked on his first-ever book tour, a “bucket list” moment for him as he gears up to enter his 60s.

“I had never really thought about writing a novel, other than maybe when I was a senior in high school,” he explained. “I had a great creative writing teacher. She read a short story of mine, and she’s the one who encouraged me to be a writer. She said, ‘That’s what you should study in school.’ But when I got to school, I started studying film. I fell in love with filmmaking and screenplays.”

“For 30-plus years, I have been thinking about writing a story like this one,” he shared. “I thought the story I was going to write was about the last generation of latchkey kids.”

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Ed Burns’ debut novel, “A Kid from Marlboro Road,” is available now. (Seven Stories Press)

During the pandemic, Burns was ready to write another screenplay. However, he didn’t know when he – or anyone else – would be returning to the set. Now was the time to finally write that novel, he thought.

“My parents were in Florida at the time and couldn’t get to New York,” he said. “I would speak to them every day on the phone. After about a week or two of just asking, ‘What did you watch on Netflix?’ ‘What did you eat for dinner?’ I started to ask my mom very specific questions about her life. ‘What do you remember about the day you met Dad?’ ‘What do you remember the day you graduated from high school?’ 

She started telling me these wonderful, long stories. I’d get off the phone with her, I would go upstairs and write. All of her stories found their way into the book.”

As an empty neater, Ed Burns is embarking on his second act. (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for IMDb)

While “A Kid from Marlboro Road” is not a memoir, it draws heavily on Burns’ Irish-American background. Burns also got a rare view of his mother’s life before marriage and kids.

“My mom was never really lucky enough to get an education,” he said. “But she was super smart and very well-read… I asked her, ‘Why didn’t you go to college?’ She was like, ‘Edward, I graduated from high school in 1957. I’m a kid with no money from the South Bronx. None of my girlfriends went to college. We had three options: you were going to teach, you were going to become a nurse, or you could become a nun.’”

“The book gets into the thwarted dreams, the dreams that didn’t quite come true for her,” said Burns. “I think that was the biggest surprise for me… As a young woman, she imagined that there was another world available to her… And maybe not having access to education thwarted some of those opportunities. That said, she… took classes in her adult life. But I think she’s someone who would’ve relished the opportunity to go to college right out of high school instead of going right to work.”

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Ed Burns has led a decades-long career as an actor and filmmaker. (Mark Peterson/Corbis via Getty Images)

The matriarch, who passed away, never got to read Burns’ book. 

Burns isn’t sure if “A Kid from Marlboro Road” will become a film. But he does have big plans.

“I’m already about 200 pages into the second novel,” he said. “I see this as a trilogy. I’ve got a good outline for the third one as well.”

Ed Burns confirmed that a sequel to “The Brothers McMullen” is in the works. (Ian Tong/Brothers Mcmullen Prod/Kobal/Shutterstock)

But Burns isn’t done with films – far from it. He’s working on a sequel to 1995’s “The Brothers McMullen.”

“It’s funny with empty nesting approaching in my life,” he said. “It’s the story of my character. Barry is an empty nester… His two adult kids asked to move back into his house on Thanksgiving. There’s a part of him that’s overjoyed about having them back. But there’s another part of him that is concerned that they have moved back into the house.”

“I read an article about that, where a lot of young adults had been moving back to live with their parents because it’s so hard to buy your first home. A lot of them are living at home now to save money. That’s what inspired me to tell this story.”

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Connie Britton, who was in “The Brothers McMullen,” is aware of the sequel. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Burns has just finished the script. So far, he’s only spoken to original cast member Connie Britton about it.

“Quite honestly, it really focuses on a handful of the characters,” he said. “So not everyone will be back. Obviously, some of them will probably be disappointed to find that out.”

Burns is excited about the next chapter in his life. But one thing is certain – he wants to stay busy.

“I’m a tireless worker,” he said about the secret behind his decades-long career.

“I’m not the most talented, but I will outwork you,” he chuckled. “That’s been, at least for me, the key to my longevity. I try to write every day. I have a pretty disciplined schedule. From 10 to 1 o’clock, I force myself to sit down and work on something. When I hit the wall in writing this novel, I was able to dive into the sequel to ‘Brothers McMullen.’ I just forced myself to work every day. The years go by, and you end up with a lot of pages written.”

Ed Burns and Christy Turlington said “I do” in 2003. (Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

“The movies that I was attracted to as a kid in film school, and the films I’ve continued to make are small character-driven stories,” he reflected. “It’s always been my favorite form of cinema. I know those films still get made, but they’re harder to find. They just don’t seem to have the same support from the business in the way that there was. When I came up in the ‘90s, we had dozens of films being made about Gen Xers… now that the generation finds ourselves in our mid-50s, there are no films about us.”

“That’s my private little dream,” said Burns, “to see more of those simpler character-driven stories about people that my generation and I can relate to, especially as we hit middle age. There are more stories to tell.”