Susan Sarandon "misses" being in love.

Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon

The 69-year-old actress - who split from lover Jonathan Bricklin last year - insists she doesn't mind being alone but enjoys the feeling of investing in a partner.

She said: "I guess the dating thing hasn't worked out for me.

"I don't mind being alone, but I do like being in love, so I miss that. The problem is, I'm kind of at the mercy of the gods in terms of who I meet."

Despite her share of heartbreak, Susan - who was married to Chris Sarandon from 1967 to 1979, previously dated David Bowie and filmmaker Franco Amurri and was in a relationship with actor Tim Robbins for 21 years until 2009 - believes being unhappy is a "choice" and always tries to learn from bad situations and stay positive.

She said: "When I made [new movie] 'The Meddler', I'd just broken up with my boyfriend and I wasn't happy at all.

"I'm generally a happy person. I think being unhappy is a choice, so whatever happens to me, I try to find some way to learn from it and get myself to a better place.

"I think the real challenge when you've been hurt is to keep your heart open - it's so much easier to be angry than to be sad, because it's less painful.

"But when you do stay open and let the sadness come, it's much trickier to deal with. The film was a great distraction to help me through that time."

For now, Susan, who has sons Jack, 26, and Miles, 24, with Tim, and daughter Eva, 31, with Franco, is being kept busy being a grandmother to Eva's daughter Marlowe, 20 months.

She told HELLO! magazine: "Marlowe is a rip - she's crazy sweet and funny and she's going to drive her mom crazy as she grows up.

"She's a light in our lives. I babysit a lot and Marlowe thinks I'm hilarious - I'm the funny grandmother. Eva's going to have another baby in the fall, so I'm really excited about that."