Eric Dane is “absolutely” proud of ex Rebecca Gayheart for breaking her silence about fatal car crash

Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart may no longer be together, but the exes will always support each other.

The euphoria The actor said he was “of course” proud of Gayheart, who last month spoke out for the first time about being responsible for a tragic car accident that killed a child.

“I lived with her for 15 years,” he told PEOPLE euphoria Premieres Tuesday in Los Angeles. “She told me the story – if it was of any use, definitely (I’m proud of her).”

Dane, 46, and Gayheart, 47, were married from 2004 to 2018 and have daughters Billie Beatrice, 9, and Georgia Geraldine, 7.

He also talked about his role in HBO’s mysterious new thriller about high school kids.

“Hopefully you’ll have a different feeling at the end of the season than you did at the beginning of the season,” he teased.

Gayheart told her story to her friend The only one in the room podcast in May, in which she revealed that she still “has trouble talking about the 2001 accident” that killed 9-year-old Jorge Cruz Jr.

“A 9-year-old child died. And you know, everything has changed since then,” she said. “It just turned my world upside down and I lost faith in everything. I asked God, ‘Why me?’ Why Jorge?’”

RELATED: Inside Rebecca Gayheart’s professional and personal life after she killed a child in a tragic accident

On June 13, 2001, Gayheart was driving a vehicle that belonged to her Dusk to dawn 3 co-star Marco Leonardi when she accidentally hit Cruz as he walked across the street in Los Angeles.

Cruz died the following day from the injuries he sustained, and Gayheart paid the family $10,000 for funeral expenses. After pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter in November 2001, the actress was sentenced to probation, a one-year driver’s license suspension, a $2,800 fine and 750 hours of community service. She also settled out of court a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the child’s parents.

During the podcast, Gayheart said that she found it difficult to move on after the accident and that she considered taking her own life.

Gayheart later told PEOPLE that while it was “scary,” she decided to speak out in hopes of bringing comfort to others dealing with tragedies in their lives.

RELATED: Why Rebecca Gayheart “finally had to speak out” about her car accident that killed a child

“I did it because I thought, if there’s one person out there who feels the same way and I can give them some perspective that everything is OK, then it’s worth it,” she said.

Although Gayheart admits she is still struggling with what happened, she has since found both happiness and continued success in her life and tries to maintain a positive attitude.

“Today I can reflect on these questions and still know that I deserve to be happy,” she added. “That I am meant to be on this planet, that I have a purpose and that I will make amends for it by living, even if it was an accident.”