When Jerry O'Connell became a dad, he never imagined how much he would learn from his two daughters, Dolly and Charlie. The beloved actor from Stand by Me reveals in an exclusive interview with Closer Weekly that the most important lesson he's picked up is the value of patience. Life, as it turns out, has a way of surprising you, especially when you're navigating fatherhood.

Learning the Art of Patience

“I will say this – I was not expecting I would have to spend as much time with my children when I had kids,” Jerry, now 46, confesses. “No one told me about this pandemic thing that meant I'd be with my children all the time. They didn’t mention that part when I signed up for fatherhood.”

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Week 3 of homeschool in the books. If they don’t stop bullying ME, I will be forced to open a disciplinary procedure. We are NOT bully-tolerant at this homeschool.
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Quarantining with his 11-year-old daughters amid the coronavirus outbreak has been a rollercoaster of emotions for Jerry. Alongside learning the importance of patience, the Sliders star, who shares Dolly and Charlie with his wife Rebecca Romijn, admits he wishes there were more people he could turn to for parenting advice. "It’s so funny being a parent during this pandemic," he jokes. "It's not like I can go to my parents and say, ‘Hey mom and dad, what did you do during the great pandemic of 1975?’ No one has been through this… we’re all figuring it out together for the first time."

Following in Dad's Footsteps?

With his daughters growing up fast, fans are curious if Dolly and Charlie will follow their dad into the world of Hollywood. While Jerry might love the idea of his girls joining the acting world, perhaps even reaping some of the financial rewards that came with the Olsen twins' fame, the girls haven’t exactly expressed much interest yet. “I got to peel them away from TikTok first, then we can worry about some of that Olsen twin cash,” Jerry quips humorously.

However, Jerry shares that his daughters are already dabbling in drama classes, hinting at a possible future in the spotlight. “Trust me, I would love for them to be acting,” he says. “I would love for one of my kids to be the next Hannah Montana, running around in a wig, or the next Debby Ryan. But ultimately, it’s up to my kids. They’re the ones who’ll decide their own paths.”

Passing Down Wisdom

Rebecca Romijn AND Jerry O'Connell — Shutterstock

Regardless of whether Dolly and Charlie choose to pursue acting careers, Jerry is already sharing the wisdom he’s gathered over the years. He even passed along some advice he received from director Rob Reiner back in 1986 while filming Stand By Me. “When I was on the set of Stand By Me, my first day there was a scene where I was just standing in the back,” he recalls. “Rob Reiner came up to me and said, ‘Hey man, you have to be more involved in this scene.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t have any lines.’ He went, ‘Yeah, but you’re as much part of it as everyone else who is on camera… you have to listen to everything.’”

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Jerry was able to pass along this valuable advice to his daughter when she appeared in a school play. “I saw one of the rehearsals and there was something happening on stage and my daughter was just standing there,” he explains. “I went up to her afterwards and I went, ‘Hey, you should be more involved in that scene.’ And she said, ‘Why? I don’t have any lines.’”