Josh Duhamel has officially entered his girl dad era, and his 2-month-old daughter is already giving him something to smile about.
“She’s still 2 months, so she’s just sort of developing that curiosity,” Duhamel said. And one milestone clearly made the proud dad happy: “She smiled at me finally.”
Before Rocca’s arrival, Duhamel was already looking forward to experiencing fatherhood with a daughter for the first time. “I think there’s something about dads and their little girls,” he previously told “Extra” in a separate interview, “It’s different.”
Josh Duhamel Reveals How His Sons Are Adjusting to Their Baby Sister
While Duhamel is embracing having a daughter, Rocca’s two older brothers have had their own reactions to the newest member of the family.
According to the actor, Axl is happy about his baby sister but is more excited for the stage when she is old enough to interact and play. For now, his response is closer to, “Oh, cute. Look at the baby.”
Things are a little different for Shepherd, who had been the youngest child before Rocca arrived.
Duhamel joked that the toddler’s perspective is essentially, “I was the baby. Now you’re the baby.” While Shepherd is affectionate toward his sister, his dad has noticed that sharing the spotlight has required some adjustment.
“He does love her and he’s very sweet, but you can tell there’s a little bit of, you know, I don’t know, jealousy,” Duhamel said.
The actor has previously been open about both the rewarding and challenging parts of raising children. In 2025, he told Us Weekly that his work schedule sometimes leaves him feeling guilty about the amount of time he spends away from his family.
“I work a lot, and I often have a lot of guilt about not being there as often as I could be,” he said, adding that the feeling sometimes makes him try to compensate by finding other ways to be present.
Duhamel has also spoken positively about raising Axl with Fergie following their divorce, describing his ex-wife as a “great mom” and emphasizing that their son’s happiness is their shared priority.
Family Life Helps Josh Duhamel Connect With “Ransom Canyon”
These days, Duhamel’s family life also looks quite different from a typical Hollywood routine.
The actor told “Extra” that his family spends roughly half the year in North Dakota, where they enjoy what he described as “sort of a ranch lifestyle.” Duhamel said he regularly works around the property, whether that means fixing something or getting on his tractor.
That lifestyle has given him something in common with Staten Kirkland, the rancher he plays on Netflix’s “Ransom Canyon.”
Like his character, Duhamel is thinking about what he will eventually leave behind for his children. He hopes the cabin and property his family enjoys today will remain theirs for generations.
“I want them to pass it down to their kids and I want this to be in the family forever,” he said.
Duhamel returns as Staten alongside Minka Kelly’s Quinn O’Grady in Season 2 of “Ransom Canyon,” which begins streaming July 23 on Netflix.
