Strange Things About Joshua Jackson And Jodie Turner-Smith
The celebrity spotlight is difficult to endure, so sometimes famous people keep their relationships as under the radar as possible until they can't ignore the curiosity anymore. In 2014, the world was happily shocked when Leighton Meester married Adam Brody. More recently and arguably impressively, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel reportedly welcomed a second child without anyone realizing Biel was pregnant. A secret that big feels like one only the year 2020 could keep.
But there is another married couple who likes to play coy with the press — Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith. They met in October 2018 and have had such a whirlwind romance ever since, it is impossible to keep track of if you blink. But the Pacey Witter we grew to love on Dawson's Creek grew up to marry a British model, so you know it's a fun and unique love story to watch unfold. Let's take a look at all of the strange things about Jackson and Turner-Smith's relationship.
The duo met at Usher's birthday party
Couples meet in many different ways, so the fact that Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson met at a birthday party might not seem like a big deal. But this wasn't just any birthday party — it was Usher's 40th birthday party at Delilah in LA, so the plot thickens. According to a source in US Weekly, more than a few sparks were flying on the dance floor that night. "They were all over each other," the source said. "Super smitten and gazing into each other's eyes as they danced together their whole night." That sounds like a little bit more than lust at first sight.
Jackson was finding the pursuit of love after his breakup with actress Diane Kruger quite difficult, he said on the Ellen Degeneres Show in 2016. "There's no talking anymore," he said. "You talk to somebody, and they're like 'Oh no, no, no, no, we don't do that anymore." It doesn't seem like Jackson needed to do too much talking with Turner-Smith to know she was special, though. As their friend, Usher, would say, "U got it bad" when there are baby-back ribs on the menu, but you can't stop staring at each other long enough to eat much.
The couple is admittedly "obsessed" with each other
Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson's is a whirlwind romance, so deep feelings came up fast. Turner-Smith has never been shy about her feelings for her now-husband Jackson, and he's fine with that. Turner-Smith told The Sunday Times, "He loves that I am obsessed with him." How far does that obsession go? Well, the Queen & Slim actress told the publication that she indulges in Jackson's filmography whenever she needs to. "I do it whenever we're apart because I miss him so much," she admitted.
What is Turner-Smith's favorite project of Jackson's? Dawson's Creek is, of course, a great guess. The best evidence of her love for the teen drama is in an Instagram story post of Turner-Smith's, where she was highly amused that the show's theme song had come on in a store, and she had to document it. In the video (via Twitter), Jackson jokingly asks, "Is something amusing you, babe?"
Perhaps it's fate that the two actors found each other, as Turner-Smith also admitted to W that her fist crush "was Pacey from Dawson's Creek! I was a very young teenager." For his part, a source told US Weekly that Jackson is "so supportive of Jodie and loves to cheer her on." Let's be honest, who doesn't love knowing that their spouse is their biggest fan?
Joshua Jackson and Jodie-Turner Smith never announce relationship milestones
Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith don't hide their feelings for each other, but they also don't publicly draw attention to relationship milestones in any other way. For example, though paparazzi caught them getting a marriage license, the couple's union was most officially confirmed on the red carpet at the Queen & Slim premiere, where they both wore rings on their left fingers. The couple purposefully played coy with the media regarding their marital status, with Turner neither confirming nor denying the official union in The Sunday Times. "I haven't said to anybody, 'Yeah, we got married,'" she said. "People are assuming whatever they want, but when people tell me 'Congratulations,' I say 'Thank you.'"
It's hard to hide a pregnancy after a few months. Still, Turner-Smith and Jackson never officially confirmed a pregnancy with a publication as celebrities often do, they just started referring to their baby as she/her on Instagram. The couple did confirm their daughter's birth via a statement to People, however. "Both mother and baby are happy and healthy," the simple statement reads. At the time of this writing, no photos of the child's face have been released to any publication or on the couple's personal Instagram accounts.
The couple is surprisingly open on social media
Like many famous couples in the social media age, Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith use their platforms to reveal details about their lives on their own terms. Jackson did some networking for his wife when he learned that Matthew A. Cherry's animated series Young Love was coming to HBO Max. He simply brought the news to Turner-Smith's attention, tagging her, and she then said "hi" to Cherry via Twitter. The filmmaker, known for the animated short film Hair Love, replied with a waving .gif. So, if we hear Turner-Smith's voice in HBO Max soon, we'll have seen the connection made in real-time. That's certainly rare access for fans, no?
Turner-Smith uses the platform to share far more intimate details with fans. She jokingly admitted she loves "objectifying" her husband on the internet. To that end, she asked fans to find her a .gif of Jackson in briefs while playing Bill Richardson on Hulu's Little Fires Everywhere, because, in Turner-Smith's words, "I'll look at that thang on tv, I'll look at it in front of me, I'll look at it from here or there, I'll look at that thang anywhere..." Can anyone really fault her?
The public doesn't know their daughter's name
A common choice celebrity couples make for privacy after a baby is born is to delay releasing the child's name, sometimes for weeks or months or even longer. In 2020, Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith have made that choice, but what's weird about it is that it's one of the only details they've left out of their parenting journey — aside from showing their daughter's face.
Turner-Smith has been very open about the realities of breastfeeding, for example. "Not with my daughter treating my nipples like they're elastic bands," she tweeted in June 2020. Meanwhile, Jackson shared a very intimate Instagram post on Mother's Day featuring Jodie holding the baby, protecting her daughter's head from the eyes of the world. In the post, Jackson thanks his wife, "for the passion with which you threw yourself into nurturing and protecting our child when she was in your womb. For the dedication and will you showed bringing her into the world," He continues, "I love seeing you enter the pantheon of mothers. And I look forward to walking this path by your side as we nurture this little engine of joy you have blessed the world with."
We totally understand that the paparazzi can be ruthless, so we probably won't be seeing baby girl's face soon. It's just strange to know such intimate details about a baby's mealtime and her parents' love, but not yet know her name, right?
The couple may not raise their daughter in the US
If they are lucky, some couples have the choice of two countries to raise their children in. But Joshua Jackson is Canadian/American, and Smith is British, so the actors have the rare luxury of three options. The one they are leaning toward might surprise you. "...I was thinking maybe Canada," Jodie Turner-Smith told The Sunday Times. She added that she wouldn't return to England because England has "gone off the rails."
As for why they wouldn't choose the US, Turner-Smith has more specific reasons. "The racial dynamics over here are fraught," she said, "White supremacy is overt. It's the reason I don't want to raise my kids here." Turner-Smith also made a comment about how prevalent gun violence is in the country. "I don't want my kids to grow up doing active shooter drills at school." We're sure the Great White North will welcome the multi-talented family.
Jodie-Turner Smith exposed her baby bump proudly and often
Pregnancy is not easy, especially during a pandemic. But Jodie Turner-Smith loved it and spoke about her feelings toward the end of her pregnancy in an Instagram post during the COVID-19 pandemic. "A fantastic voyage that begins in wonder and transformation," the actress began in the caption of a photo featuring her naked and embracing her bump, adorned with flowers.
Turner-Smith frequently chose outfits to showcase her bump rather than hide it while doing press or red carpets. On The Graham Norton Show, she wore a black crop top that left her bump completely exposed, captioning the pictures with the hashtag "#BunInTheOvenButMakeItFashun" in her Instagram post. When she received criticism online about baring her bump so boldly, she responded on Twitter, "gives zero f***s about your disdain for pregnant women's bodies on British television," and accompanied the post with another picture of herself wearing the outfit.
Perhaps her most stunning pregnancy fashion moment was on the BAFTA red carpet, where she covered the bump and wore a Gucci gown so stunning it will be remembered for years to come. "I've never felt more beautiful, I will never ever forget this moment, and I look forward to showing this to my baby angel years from now," Turner-Smith wrote in an Instagram post.
Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith got parenting advice from two of Hollywood's biggest 'supermoms'
First-time parenthood is exciting and terrifying at the same time. Many expecting parents turn to their friends and co-workers for advice, but quite few will be able to say that both Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington were a daily support system at the time. In fact, there might only be two people in the world who can say that — Joshua Jackson and (perhaps by proxy) Jodie Turner-Smith.
Jackson was filming Hulu's Little Fires Everywhere with Washington and Witherspoon, and "I was going through a pretty significant change during the show: I found out my wife was pregnant," Jackson told The Hollywood Reporter. "So having a collection of supermoms around me helped with everything from finding doctors to baby clothes to 'what to expect' advice." Jackson's character Bill Richardson was also a father of four, which might have helped him see the future — but nothing compares to the input of supermoms who are also superstars.
Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith are boring, just like us
Despite their successful careers, Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith are boring and want to stay that way. Turner-Smith shared what a day in COVID-19 quarantine life looked like for the couple in March 2020. "Josh is on his 2nd workout of the day and I'm eating an ice cream sundae in the robe I've been wearing since I got out of bed, " the actress tweeted.
While promoting Little Fires Everywhere in March 2020 on Live With Kelly And Ryan Jackson told the hosts, "We're in the board game phase now. We did a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of binge-watching last week, so now we're ... we moved our way through Monopoly last week. Now it's actually Jenga, Jenga is like the thing."
That sounds pretty typical to us, and the couple wants to keep it that way. Yet, they have to deal with paparazzi while doing simple things like grocery shopping. Turner-Smith has voiced her frustration on Twitter. "I hate that the paparazzi know where we are living at the moment but I take comfort in knowing that they won't be able to sell our private moments for their profit for too much longer..." She's referring to the 2013 California law that restricts paparazzi access to celebrity children.