Suddenly baby puts Fergie's bloke in lead

Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl in Life As We Know It. Photo / Supplied.

Josh Duhamel steps up to his first leading role in Life As We Know It. Although a paint-by-numbers "chick-flick", it is not without some merit, and Duhamel, 38, proves that he can do much more on-screen than look pretty.

Known primarily as the husband of Fergie, singer of the Black Eyed Peas, rather than for his work in the Transformers movies and, more recently, the ill-fated "comedy" When in Rome, Duhamel is serious about his acting career.

A former model, standing at a strapping 1.9m, it seems that the age-old prejudice of being "too good-looking to be taken seriously" isn't a phenomenon that's exclusive to women.

"Yes, it's been a hindrance, but to be honest, it's also helped me get in the door," Duhamel says. "And bottom line, if you're going to be successful, you have to put in the work or it shows up. What was scary about me doing Life As We Know It was that it was my first opportunity as a lead."

Directed by Greg Berlanti (The Broken Hearts Club), Life As We Know It features an unlikely pair, at first repelled by one another but eventually, amidst much hilarity, falling for each other's charms. Katherine Heigl plays the highly strung best friend of a woman (Christina Hendricks) who dies in a car accident, and Duhamel is the laid-back buddy of her husband (Hayes MacArthur). The deceased couple leave their 1-year-old daughter in the care of their respective mismatched friends.

This called for Duhamel to interact with identical baby triplets who rotated their acting duties. A task of this nature may prove challenging to less child-friendly men, but Duhamel enjoyed every minute of it. Affable and easy-going, he proudly holds out his iPhone, displaying a photograph of his 15-month-old twin nieces. "To me, playing with the babies was the most fun and easiest part of making this movie," he smiles. "In between set-ups, I'd go and hang out with them for 20 minutes in the trailer."

Sounds as though Duhamel is getting clucky. "Fatherhood? Oh, it'll happen. Hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later. We're not that young any more."

Duhamel and Fergie live in the upscale suburb of Brentwood, California, but this North Dakota native enjoys spending time back home, where he part-owns a restaurant. "I invested in a place that specialises in local dishes like elk, bison, pheasant and duck. One of my oldest friends runs it. It's a great place to eat when I'm home."

Duhamel acknowledges sex-symbol appeal "is fleeting". His goal, he says, is "to have [acting] longevity. It's nice to have people say stuff like that, but for me it's not real."

However, his wife, aka "Fergalicious", promotes her sexuality and has made a career of it. "She can have all that," he says. "She's a beautiful girl and into fashion and beauty. She's much more comfortable with that kind of attention than I am."

- Life As We Know It is in cinemas now.

-Herald On Sunday / View