Josh Duhamel may be happily married to Black Eyed Peas star attraction Fergie, but in Life As We Know It, he’s a wayward jock with stubborn commitment issues. Duhamel’s not without a knack for laughing at himself in a movie, even when subjected to getting pooped on by a toddler. He also didn’t shy away from getting the third degree during this interview, including intermittent two cents from his skeptical female co-star and designated blind date in the film, Katherine Heigl, who came armed with her own opinionated take on romance.
Q: Josh, how did you get into character to play a jock?
JOSH DUHAMEL: I was given a sort of tour of the directing booth, of the WNBA basketball games, and that was definitely an experience.
Photos from Life As We Know It
Q: This movie starts off with the nightmare blind date from hell. Have you ever had any of your own worst fix-ups?
JD: None. I’ve had plenty of awkward moments, but I’ve always been in relationships for a long time. Dating always scared the crap out of me! For this very reason, and it’s a good example of why I couldn’t date.
Q: Then how did you end up in those relationships?
JD: Well you know, I had to make very sure that I wanted to date that person!
Q: So you just stalked them for a while. And then…
JD: Yes! I would do a complete recon, yeah. So I would make sure I wanted to be with them before I would start dating them.
Q: That’s so interesting—and weird! So I guess you never just met anyone in a bar?
JD: Well, I’m sure I did. I just never…
Q: Recalled? Because you got so drunk at dinner?
JD: Yeah! I was so drunk the night before that I don’t remember!
Q: And did you ever try to hook up your friends with blind dates?
JD: No, I would never try to set up anybody with my friends. I’d have too much respect for them.
Q: How do you co-star with babies?
JD: Yeah, it was brutal. No, they had me go to Atlanta a little bit early, just to acclimate myself with the kids and get them to be comfortable with me. They really responded to me. Katherine was in the middle of adopting her own child at the time, so she couldn’t come early, but I went out there and I got to know these kids really well. They lived on the set, so it made them feel comfortable. That’s why I think those cute little triplets worked really well in the movie.