Joshua Carter Jackson (born June 11, 1978 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian–American actor.
Jackson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of Fiona Jackson, a casting director, and John Carter. Jackson's father is from Texas and his mother is a native of Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland, having emigrated to North America in the late 1960s. He has a sister, Aisleagh, and two half-brothers, Lyman and Jonathan Carter from his father's first marriage. Jackson grew up in California until the age of 8. Not long after his sister was born in California, his parents divorced and his and his sister's last name was changed from "Carter" to "Jackson" (his mother's maiden name). Josh, his mother and sister then moved to Seattle where he attended Einstein Middle School in Shoreline, Washington. Shortly thereafter, he moved back to Vancouver with his mother and younger sister. He attended Ideal Mini School and later switched to Kitsilano Secondary School.
Soon after he took up acting, Jackson landed the role of Charlie in the The Mighty Ducks series. While the show was on hiatus, he appeared in several movies including The Skulls, The Safety of Objects, The Laramie Project and a short cameo in the remake of Ocean's Eleven where he appears as himself in a poker scene with Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Topher Grace, among others. In 2000, he also guest starred in Season 12 of The Simpsons, voicing the character of Jesse Grass, a "hunky environmentalist" and love interest for Lisa Simpson in the episode "Lisa the Tree Hugger".
Shortly after Dawson's Creek ended in 2003, Jackson played the lead role in films alongside Dennis Hopper (Americano), Harvey Keitel (Shadows in the Sun), and Donald Sutherland (Aurora Borealis).
In 2005, Jackson moved to the UK and made his stage debut on the London West End with Patrick Stewart in David Mamet's two-man play, A Life in the Theatre.
His next film role was in the all-star ensemble drama Bobby, directed by Emilio Estevez, Jackson's co-star from The Mighty Ducks. He played a lead role in in a US remake of the Asian horror film Shutter. He has recently starred and acted as executive producer in the Canadian independent film One Week, which opened on March 6, 2009.
Jackson currently plays Peter Bishop in J.J. Abrams' science-fiction series Fringe. The series appears on the FOX TV network and is the second-highest rated new show of the 2008-09 season after CBS' The Mentalist. Separately, Dwight H. Little had much interest in Jackson playing the powerful lead role of Jin Kazama in Tekken.
In November 2002, Jackson was arrested by Raleigh, North Carolina police and charged with assaulting a security guard at a Carolina Hurricanes hockey game. Jackson registered a blood alcohol level of 0.14 when tested at the Wake County Security Centre. He posted a $1,000 bail and was released. He was later ordered to enter an alcohol education program, a fine of $150 and complete 24 hours of community service.
Jackson currently divides his time between New York City and Vancouver. Previously he lived in Wilmington, North Carolina, where the television program Dawson's Creek was filmed. He has dated Katie Holmes, Brittany Daniel, Julia Stiles and Rosario Dawson.
He is currently dating model and actress Diane Kruger.