Eppu Salminen tells Ilta-Sanom about his everyday life in France and gives feedback to Finns.
Eppu Salminen lives in France with his extended family. Joona Rissanen
Actor Eppu Salminen59, says Ilta-Sanom about his life in France in Corsica.
He lives in the country Kaisa Kuikkaniemi with whom Salmi has six children together. Salmis has eight children, of which the firstborn is a 35-year-old musician Roope Salminen and the youngest child was born in autumn 2024.
Salminen has taken on the role of a stay-at-home dad. The everyday life of the extended family includes soccer practice and trips to school and friends’ birthdays. In the summer, Salminen has been to Finland doing theater roles.
Salminen has noticed how children are treated differently in Finland than abroad.
– Sometimes a child is seen as a burden or an accident. Here in Corsica, on the other hand, children are a source of joy and pride, he tells the magazine.
Eppu Salminen It is important to promote child-friendliness in Finland. Joona Rissanen
Salminen remembers a situation in the theater a few years ago, when an employee of the theater marched in and announced loudly that he “hated children”.
– And then the child hears it and everyone around hears and nods that it’s true. You can’t say the same about gays or women, but you can say you hate them, he thinks to the magazine.
Salminen says that he has received pats on the shoulder in other parts of Europe and has even been called a “hero” because of his large number of children.
In the summer, Salminen told Anna magazine how he once had to fight for the parentage of his son Roope. Parentage of ex-spouse, actor Minna Turunenit went well at first, but Turunen’s life management began to falter.
– Of course it caused concern that I couldn’t catch Minna and I didn’t always know where Roope was. Everything was tried, there were good periods, but in the end we were in a situation where I demanded exact meeting and holiday rules, Salminen said.
Salminen stated that the phone calls with the social authorities and the fight over the issues of the minor child took strength.
– There were no winners, but I did what was necessary so that the boy’s life could be calmed down and everyday life could go on. If it had only been about Minna, I believe that things would have been arranged more easily, but the situation was confusing outsiders, who did not understand what kind of mess Minna’s life was slipping into, he said.