Beverly D'Angelo may have had a "bigger acting career" if she had focused less on her children when she had them aged 49.

The 74-year-old actress welcomed twins Anton and Olivia with ex-partner, actor Al Pacino, via IVF in 2001.

She told People: "If I would have been more focused, maybe I would have had a bigger career, but I was focused on my kids, to tell you the truth.

"I had them so late, and it was like, 'Well, been there, done that, let's do this.'"

The National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation legend cannot wait to rustle up some delicious food this holiday season.

Beverly said: "We're cooking-oriented. We're always cooking-oriented. I do a prosciutto-wrapped turkey. That's my big dish, and my son Anton is a big cook, and he's got all kinds of pasta dishes in his pocket."

The actress and Al, 85, met in 1996 during a plane flight from Los Angeles to New York, and Beverly said they got together "by the time the plane landed".

The following year, The Godfather actor knew he wanted to have children with Beverly.

In 2017, she told Closer US: "I had a fantasy that when you have kids, you do it in a family setting. After we'd known each other for three months, [Al] looked me in the eyes and said, 'I want you to be the mother of my children.' That's all I had to hear.

"I got pregnant at 48, delivered six weeks after I was 49, and by 51, I was looking at a landscape as a single parent."

The couple split in 2003 and faced a bitter custody battle, but Beverly and Al settled the dispute and went on to become friends.

She said: "The key thing is creating a new history, and moving on from whatever dissolved that relationship to the new one of co-parenting."

And the experience taught Beverly to "accept differences".

"The most important thing I've learned is how vital acceptance is. We all have a desire to change things that we don't like, but you can't change another person.

"You have to accept differences and all the things that led to a breakup in a way that allows you to move forward. And out of my support system and people I know and love, I've created the ideal partner."

Al is also dad to filmmaker Julie Pacino, 36, and Roman, two, from previous relationships.