NEWSJoshua Jackson Laughs Off Awkward Question About Parenting Advice After Father Abandoned Him as a Kid
Joshua Jackson was forced to answer an awkward question about his dad who abandoned him.
April 17 2026, Published 11:43 a.m. ET
Joshua Jackson took a disastrous interview question in stride.
In a viral Thursday, April 16, video shared to X from a New York screening of the documentary Brunello: The Gracious Visionary, the actor, 47, was asked about the best piece of advice he received from his father.
Things took an awkward turn when Jackson revealed he didn’t exactly have the best relationship with his late dad since he neglected him as a kid.
Joshua Jackson was asked about his late father who abandoned him.
The Dawson’s Creek alum burst into laughter and cracked a smile.
“My father abandoned my family,” he confessed. “You know what? The best piece of advice my father gave me in his absence is to be a good and present father."
The Actor Was Commended for How He Handled the Question
Joshua Jackson did not have a positive relationship with his father.
Fans praised Jackson for being a good sport about the uncomfortable inquiry.
“It's hot he has a sense of humor about it though,” one X user said, while another agreed, “omg he is just the coolest i love him !!!”
Joshua Jackson Has 1 Daughter
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Joshua Jackson shares a daughter with Jodie Turner-Smith.
On an April 2025 episode of the “Dinner’s on Me” podcast, Jackson admitted his perspective on his late father’s behavior has changed over time.
“I am now a grown man with a child. I have my father who I never became close with, [who] also passed away,” shared the TV star, who shares daughter Juno with ex-wife Jodie Turner-Smith. “And I find myself for the first time with a great deal of sympathy for him, because the pain that he must have lived with, to have four children in the world and essentially no relationship with any of them.”
Joshua Jackson Talks Parenting After Being Abandoned by His Own Dad
Joshua Jackson is determined to maintain a positive co-parenting relationship.
Jackson was raised by a single mom and admitted he would be a “wreck” if his own children did not have a father figure.
“I actually can’t conceive of it because I can’t even,” he said. “I don’t even want to think of the pain that would be.”
The Doctor Odyssey star called parenting a “self-healing” journey.
“People are like, ‘Well, you’re really parenting yourself.’ You’re reparenting and all these things,” he explained. “But until you’re experientially in them, or at least for me, I didn’t really get that until, until frankly some difficult things happen or the divorce happens and it’s like, ‘Oh, right.’”
Joshua Jackson split from Jodie Turner-Smith in 2023.
Although Jackson and Smith split in 2023, the stars ensure they both remain in their child’s life.
“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 expressed about his daughter. “But man, it is not lost on me that. I am getting an opportunity to experience a father’s love in a way that I never experienced.”
