Joshua Jackson is reflecting on what might have been between him and wife Jodie Turner-Smith had they met earlier in life.
The Fatal Attraction actor, 44, revealed the pair “probably would have had a torrid affair” if they met five years sooner in an interview published on Sunday.
Jackson shared that he was “just not ready” to settle down at the time, adding, “I didn’t think I ever wanted to get married.”
On the topic of affairs — something his character has in Fatal Attraction — Jackson gave his take on infidelity in relationships, saying, “I think an affair can be forgiven.”
“We’re all grown-ups,” he said. “No one wants to be cheated on, and there is massive repair to be done. Affairs aren’t about the partner — they’re about the person who has transgressed.”
He added: “It’s not purely about the sex. There’s a deeper violation.”
The Dawson’s Creek alum also revealed that he had a change of heart about wanting to get married and have kids after meeting Turner-Smith, 36.
“Partially, it’s age,” he said. “I’m old enough to be able to do this. Partially it’s about finding somebody in the right moment of life.”
The couple met in 2018 through a mutual friend at a charity event in Los Angeles, and Jackson recalled how and the After Yang actress would “spend every moment together and find reasons to be in other cities together at the same time.”
Jackson, who previously dated actress Diane Kruger for 10 years until 2016, also opened up about the moment model/actress Smith proposed to him during a New Year’s Eve vacation to Nicaragua.
“I don’t know if she planned it or if it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but out popped a proposal I was not expecting and the organic and instinctive answer was yes,” he said.
In December 2019, a source close to the Murder Mystery 2 actress and Jackson confirmed to Mister Truth that the two had wed.
“Six months [after the proposal], she was pregnant and we were on our way. And now we have this beautiful baby who is literally the manifestation of that love,” the Dawson’s Creek alum continued of the pair’s 3-year-old daughter. “It is impossible for me to look into the face of my child without feeling love for my wife.”
He added of becoming a father, “It has changed me in every single possible way.”
The first three episodes of Fatal Attraction drop April 30 on Paramount+.