Chris Pine Recalls His Dad Robert Pine’s Efforts to Support Family

Chris Pine is recalling the work his parents put in when acting alone did not pay the bills.

During Chris’ appearance on the April 29 episode of Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, the actor, 43, broke down his father, Robert Pine, and mother Gwynne Gilford’s careers in Hollywood before he was born — and the efforts his parents each took when their family faced tough times in the 1980s.

“Going into the ’80s it got rougher and rougher,” Chris said. “My dad, the work got sparser and sparser, and then the real estate crash in ’87 or ’88 pretty much wiped my family out. Then it was some really rough years, and then my mom went back to school. I have so much respect for what she did. She went back to UCLA and got her BA. She went back and got her Master’s at Antioch.”

Chris said that Gwynne worked multiple jobs while he was growing up after going back to school. He also noted that Robert “was doing other jobs to try to make ends meet” outside of acting during his childhood. “So there was a period of time when it was really rough,” he said.

While recounting his life in Los Angeles growing up, Chris shared that he holds a deep respect for both his parents for turning away from acting when necessary to provide for him and his sister, Katherine. “The kind of deep respect I have for my father now, becoming a man — because I think I’m still becoming a man — to know what he had to do for his family,” he said. “It requires a strength and a humility. I don’t know if I would have that similar strength.”

“They put 2 kids through college and private school, put my mother through school, paid off their debts,” Chris who is currently promoting his directorial debut Poolman, added.

The Star Trek star additionally noted that his parents’ experiences growing up gave him “a deep respect for the fickleness of the business” in Hollywood.

“I have a deep understanding of how very quickly it can go, how very good it can be, and how very quickly people are not returning your phone calls,” he said.

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At Poolman‘s premiere in Los Angeles on April 24, Robert recalled to PEOPLE that Chris came to realize he wanted to pursue acting as a career after initially trying out for a play in college to make friends. Before that, he had only acted in a high school one-act play.

“My wife and I went up to see it, and within five minutes we’re going, ‘Holy, he’s really good.’ And then he did about four or five plays up there, all wonderful,” Robert said. “And then he said afterward, ‘I think maybe I’d like to try this.’ I said, ‘Go for it.’ “

Poolman is in theaters on May 10.