Actor Joshua Jackson has been binge-watching his new series, Little Fires Everywhere, while practicing social distancing with his pregnant wife, model and actor Jodie Turner-Smith. In an interview with Buzzfeed News, the actor shared that he and his wife are anxious about interacting with the medical community during this unprecedented crisis.
Many expectant and first-time parents are feeling nervous about giving birth right now. They’re worried about their health, their baby’s health, and the strain that’s been put on many hospitals and healthcare workers. Jackson and Turner-Smith are expecting their first child any day now.
“The only times we are really out of the house are to get food or go for a walk around the block,” Jackson said from the safety of his home Wednesday.
“We were kind of social distancing anyway, just getting into the nesting phase,” he said. “The only real difficult part right now is how to interface with the medical community. Obviously we have to, and we are just trying to take that one day by day, to try to figure out what the best and healthiest way is.”
Like many soon-to-be parents, Jackson is worried. Not the normal level of anxiety around birth, but the added fears surrounding hospitals in New York City at this time. He said the baby is in good health, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to worry about.
“I’ve never been a parent before, so I’m not quite sure how much of this is just first-baby anxiety and how much of this is pandemic anxiety. Yeah, man, it’s stressful. This is a lot to deal with,” he admitted.
His baby is not the only thing on his mind: Jackson’s brother is an ER doctor in New York and has been on the front lines of the crisis for weeks.
“I think about him a lot, being in a hospital all the time,” he said.
Jackson lays blame on the federal government, “If ever there was proof of elections [having] consequences — we’re living with it right now. I mean, if you hire incompetent people to do an important job, you’re probably going to get bad results, and we’re all living inside of the bad results right now.”
It’s not all gloom, however; he’s gotten helpful advice from his co-stars of Little Fires Everywhere, moms Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. They let him know what to expect.
“In the very beginning, I was like, who did I go to as an OB? What are the things I need to know now?” Jackson asked them. “But also, as it got a little bit deeper into it, just, like, how do you integrate your home life?”
“I have always kept my personal life and my work life pretty separate, but I don’t think I want to do that going forward, because I want to obviously have my child around when I’m at work — and just asking them how they integrate those two things and how they create an environment inside a set environment that’s a healthy place for a kid to be, because it’s often not.”
Witherspoon and Washington are incredible working moms and they were there for Jackson when he freaked out. It turns out they know a thing or two about work-life balance.
“Like, holy Moses! This is happening!” he said. “And them just both being like, it’s OK! This is normal! It’s alright. Just breathe. You’re going to be good.”
Thank goodness for mothers. We know many expecting parents are anxious at this moment. Take Reese Witherspoon’s advice, “Just breathe. You’re going to be good.”