“It’s the book I wish I had on my bed stand when I was going through treatment.”
Joshua Jackson is opening up about his divorce and learning to put his daughter first.
The 46-year-old “Doctor Odyssey” star appeared on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s “Dinner’s on Me” podcast, released April 22, when he shared rare comments about his life as a girl dad.
"If I ever did anything to estrange my daughter from myself, I would be in duress," he said on the podcast.
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"I actually can't conceive of it because I don't even wanna think of the pain that that would be,” he added.
The “Dawson’s Creek” alum shares a 5-year-old daughter Juno with his ex-wife Jodie Turner-Smith, who filed for divorce from Jackson in October 2023, per People.
While talking to Ferguson on the podcast, Jackson opened up about what his divorce has taught him.
“Regardless of how messy the divorce is, beautiful the divorce is, easy [or] hard the co-parenting is ... I think this generation of dads is understanding, like 'I need to be here,’” he explained.
“It's gonna be hard, but this is important, and I've got to do this," he continued.
Jackson met his ex-wife in 2018 at a birthday party for Usher, per People. The couple instantly clicked and tied the knot the following year before welcoming their daughter in 2020.
"It's my job – shared with my ex-wife – to do everything that we can to nurture you, cultivate you and give you all the tools that you need in life,” he added.
Jackson has a sweet way of keeping his daughter close
While he and Turner-Smith have chosen to keep their daughter out of the spotlight, Jackson has been known to share small glimpses of his life as a girl dad from time to time.
On Sept. 2, the former “Fringe” star took to Instagram to share a sweaty photo of him wearing a beaded necklace.
In the caption, he revealed that the necklace was made by his daughter before sharing the story behind it.
“This morning after breakfast I told my daughter I was going to go do some yard work. She asked if she could come with me, which is of course a yes,” he wrote in the caption.
After changing into his “outside clothes,” his daughter changed her mind and decided to stay inside.
When he returned from his “dad therapy,” Jackson’s daughter had a gift for him.
“Dada I wanted to stay inside so I could make you a necklace,’” he recalled his daughter saying to him.
He then asked her to take a photo of him wearing the necklace, to which she said, “it’s good for you to have a photo so you can always remember that I love you.”
“So this is the exact moment my heart was melted by this amazing little big girl for the bajilionth time,” he added in the caption.
Several weeks later, Jackson was walking the red carpet at the premiere of “Doctor Odyssey” when he was asked why he wasn’t wearing the necklace.
After admitting that he didn’t want to lose it, Jackson pulled out yet another gift his daughter gave him.
“But I do have, here hold up,” he said as he reached into his pocket.
“Right before I left, she said because I’m leaving and I’m going to work, she wanted to give me this, which is the ‘remember me stone,’” he explained. “So that I can remember her while I’m here at work.”
When asked if moments like that make his heart melt, Jackson gave the most girl dad response.
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“There’s not anything that that little girl does that doesn’t make me absolutely melt,” he said.
