Joshua Jackson

His role as Charlie Conway in 'The Mighty Ducks' (1992)

Background:

“I was born in Vancouver, moved to Los Angeles and when my parents split up,
gradually moved back up the west coast. I was able to pack a lot of experience
into my 19 years. My parents getting divorced was obviously a very traumatic
experience. And then, after, it was just me, my sister and my mother, and we
went at it alone. I went from being a very well-off little kid to having a
couple rough years, to rebuilding, my mother did that. She and I are very
close.” Joshua Jackson

Canadian TV and movie actor Joshua Jackson is most popular to TV audience for
his role as good-humored Pacey Witter, the best friend of the titular character
Dawson, in the successful WB teen drama “Dawson’s Creek” (1998-2003), where he
netted three Teen Choice awards in 1999- 2001. Before the success, the tall,
brown-haired performer made a name for himself as an accomplished child star
with the box office smash hit comedy The Mighty Ducks (1992) and its
continuations in 1994 and 1996, playing the hockey sensation Charlie Conroy.

One of Teen People Magazine’s “21 Hottest Stars Under 21” (1999), Jackson has
since performed in such moves as Urban Legend (1998), Cruel Intention (1999),
Gossip (2000), The Skulls (2000), The Safety of Objects (2001), The Laramie
Project (2002) and Lone Star State of Mind (2002). His more recent and
forthcoming projects include Racing Stripes (2005), Wes Craven’s thriller Cursed
(2005), Aurora Borealis (2005), The Shadow Dancer (2005), the ensemble drama
Bobby (2006), Meet the Devil (2006) and Untitled Carol Mendelson Project (2006,
TV).

Off screen, Jackson is left-handed and asthmatic. He reportedly has dual
citizenship with Canada and the United States. In 2003, he was accepted into an
alcohol education program after his arrest in 2002 for being drunk and
assaulting a security guard at a hockey game. As for his romantic life, the
owner of a dog named Shumba has been involved with two of his Dawson Creek
costars: actress Katie Holmes in 1998 and actress Brittany Daniel in 1999-2000.
Additionally, he was once briefly engaged to actress Rosario Dawson, but the
couple separated after a two-year relationship.


Harmonica Player

Childhood and Family:

Son to an American father, John, and a casting director mother of Irish decent,
Fiona Jackson, Joshua Carter Jackson was born on June 11, 1978, in Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada. Following the divorce of his parents, he spent his
childhood in Los Angeles before moving back to Vancouver when he was eight. It
was in Vancouver that young Joshua began his career as a child actor, being
hired as a substitute in the 1989 movie The Fly II, and an extra on several
episodes of the TV serial “MacGyver” as well as appearing in a string of TV
commercial promoting tourism in British Columbia. By the time he was 11, Joshua
had decided to pursue a career in acting. He dropped out of two different high
schools before eventually completing his diploma through correspondence with the
Kitsilano Secondary School. Joshua has a younger sister named Aisleigh Jackson
(born in 1983). In his leisure time, he likes playing the harmonica.


The Mighty Ducks

Career:

The son of a casting agent, Vancouver-born Joshua Jackson told his mom he wanted
to become an actor and was brought to his first audition at age nine, a year
after moving back to Vancouver. He landed a commercial for British Columbia
Tourism and later appeared in Keebler’s potato chips ads. Also at age nine, he
was a double for The Fly II (1989) and an extra on “MacGyver” (1985) for several
episodes. By the time he was 13, Jackson had added film acting to his endeavors,
making his debut in the 1991 Crooked Hearts, wherein his mother served as a
casting director. A gifted newcomer, he soon delivered a breakthrough
performance as Charlie Conroy, the coach’s timid prodigy, in the Disney
successful comedy The Mighty Ducks (1992), starring Emilio Estevez. He later
reprised the hockey star role for the sequels, D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994) and
D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996).

After The Mighty Ducks’ success, Jackson received more roles both in film and
TV. He played small roles in films like Digger (1993), George Miller’s Andre
(1994), the Canadian family film Magic in the Water (1995, as Mark Harmon's son)
and the Kevin Williamson-scripted Scream 2 (1997). On the small screen, he
appeared as Ed Marinaro’s art school bound son, Matt Mazzilli, in two episodes
of the short lived comedy “Champs” (1996), made his TV movie debut in Robin of
Locksley (1996), starred as Ronnie Monroe in the engaging ice rink-set Romeo and
Juliet-based Ronnie and Julie (1997), was featured in the NBC drama On the Edge
of Innocence (1997) and guest starred in an episode of “The Outer Limits.”
(1997).

No stranger to television, Jackson made his debut as a series regular in 1998
after winning the role of Dawson Leery’s smart and lenient best friend Pacey
Witter in the WB’s sharp teen drama “Dawson’s Creek,” created by Kevin
Williamson. During a five-year stint in the show (1998-2003), his skillful
portrayal of the quick-witted and good-natured teen garnered Jackson raves
reviews and many fans. In addition, he took home three Teen Choice awards for
Choice Actor in 1999-2001.

The appealing actor returned to the wide screen with a part in the psychological
thriller Apt Pupil (1998), a film based on a Stephen King novel and directed by
Bryan Singer. He next stepped into the ever-present teen horror genre with a
costarring role opposite Alicia Witt and Jared Leto in the teen horror flick
Urban Legend (1998) before having a small, but essential, part as blond gay
Blaine Tuttle in the up to date teen retelling of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,”
Cruel Intention (1999), which starred Sarah Michelle Gellarand and Ryan
Phillippe. Joshua then made a cameo appearance in Muppets from Space (also in
1999). Wanting to be recognized for more than a teen idol, Jackson offered a
notable performance as Beau Edson in the college campus-set Gossip (2000), an
ensemble featuring a crowd of young up-and-comers like James Marsden, Lena
Headey, Norman Reedus and Kate Hudson, and scored a starring role opposite Paul
Walker in Rob Cohen’s The Skulls that same year.

2001-2002 saw roles in the Toronto Film Festival-screened drama The Safety of
Objects (2001, starring Glenn Close and Dermot Mulroney), director Moisés
Kaufman’s The Laramie Project (2002), and the crime/comedy Lone Star State of
Mind (2002). After Dawson’s Creek ended in 2003, he teamed up with filmmaker
Adam Goldberg for the drama I Love Your Work (2003) and then took some time off
from acting.

Returning to the big screen in 2005, he provided the voice of blemished pedigree
Trenton’s Pride in the family film Racing Stripes, starred in the comedy/romance
Americano, appeared in Wes Craven’s thriller Cursed, and starred with Donald
Sutherland and Louise Fletcher in the drama Aurora Borealis (2005). In The
Shadow Dancer (2005), he starred opposite Harvey Keitel and Claire Forlani. In
upcoming projects, Jackson will find himself acting with Hollywood A-List actors
such as Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone and Elijah Wood in the Emilio
Estevez ensemble drama Bobby (2006). He will also be seen in Danny Cannon’s
Untitled Carol Mendelson Project (2006, TV) and is reportedly playing a role in
Josef Rusnak’s thriller Meet the Devil (2006).


Awards:

Teen Choice: TV - Choice Actor, Dawson’s Creek, 2001
Teen Choice: TV - Choice Actor, 2000
Teen Choice: TV - Choice Actor, 1999