- Joshua Jackson said he got imposter syndrome because he made more money than his friends' parents.
- The "Dawson's Creek" star told The Times of London he didn't miss being in his twenties.
Joshua Jackson said making more money in a few episodes of "Dawson's Creek" than his friends' parents gave him imposter syndrome.
In an interview with The Times of London's Scarlett Russell shared Sunday, Jackson spoke about his feelings on infidelity, his marriage to actress Jodie Turner-Smith, and his time on the teen drama.
Jackson is best known for his role as Pacey on "Dawson's Creek," which he landed when he was just 19, according to Screen Rant. Although he remembers his time on the show fondly, he said he's focused on living in the present.
"Being in my forties is far and away the best decade. I wouldn't want to go back to my twenties again, that amount of angst," he said.
He also revealed that he outearned his friends' parents by doing just a few episodes of the hit series, a fact that he said made him feel like a fraud.
"I would make more money doing four episodes of 'Dawson's Creek' than most of my friends' parents made in a year. That was the center of my impostor syndrome: 'You're trying to set me up to be a role model to kids, and I definitely am not, and you're paying me all this money that I don't deserve,'" he said.
Jackson also said the best advice he got as an actor was to "go away," which is something he thinks about as he takes on new projects.
"This business can consume you, but I've always been conscious that although I love what I do for a living, I don't like it all the time," he said. "I love this dream of building this life with my wife and seeing her achieve her goals. In my twenties it was, 'Maybe I'll feel like this when I get here.' At this point in my life I'm already here."
Jackson is currently starring in the TV remake of the 1987 thriller "Fatal Attraction," which premieres on Paramount+ on April 30. The show marks another project in which the actor deals with infidelity onscreen — he starred in the Showtime drama "The Affair" from 2014 to 2018.
When asked about his feelings on cheating, he said he thinks affairs can be forgiven with "massive" overhauls of a relationship.
"We're all grown-ups. 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 said. "It's not purely about the sex. There's a deeper violation."
He noted that his relationship with Turner-Smith could have turned out to be a "torrid affair" if they had met at the wrong time. Instead, the two entered a "casual" relationship that quickly turned into marriage and parenthood.
"And now we have this beautiful baby who is literally the manifestation of that love. It is impossible for me to look into the face of my child without feeling love for my wife," he said.