Joshua Jackson: Fatherhood came with a ‘raft of anxieties’ | Entertainment

Joshua Jackson endured a “raft of anxieties” when he became a parent for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ‘Dawson’s Creek’ alum and his wife Jodie Turner-Smith welcomed their daughter, Janie, into the world in April 2020, marking the first time either of them had become parents.

And Joshua has now said that while his “worries” about fatherhood were “magnified” by the pandemic, he was also “thankful” to have had the chance to slow down while the world was in lockdown.

Speaking to The Observer newspaper, he said: “First-time parenting is a raft of anxieties you never knew existed. During a pandemic those worries are magnified.

“But lockdown also forced me to stop and be with my family. I haven’t taken a six-month break in the last 30 years, but I spent every day with my wife and infant daughter. So in many ways I’m thankful for the world pausing, awful as it sounds. Many new fathers don’t get that opportunity.”

Meanwhile, the 43-year-old actor recently said becoming a father has changed his priorities in “every possible way”.

He said: “It’s 100 percent changed how I approach my work and my life. That has been made so clear to me in this past year.

“For me to feel good about what I’m doing day to day, my family has to be the central focus.”

Joshua also admitted being at home with his wife and daughter amid the COVID-19 pandemic has made him realise how hard it can be for new fathers to head off to work so soon after welcoming a child.

He added: “I now recognise how perverse the way that we have set up our society is.

“There is not a father I know who works a regular job who didn’t go back to the office a week later. It’s robbing that man of the opportunity to bond with his child and spend time with his partner.”