Joshua Jackson Jokes 'Chasing Around a 4-Year-Old' Is His Secret to Staying Young, Despite His 'Gray Hair' (Exclusive)

"I think I look a lot younger without a full COVID beard," Jackson told PEOPLE at the Walt Disney Company's Emmy Awards Celebration on Sunday, Sept. 15

Joshua Jackson has a built-in youth preserver: fatherhood!

Asked about how he has kept fresh-faced over the years, the 46-year-old Doctor Odyssey actor joked to PEOPLE at the Walt Disney Company's Emmy Awards Celebration on Sunday, Sept. 15, "I think it's chasing around a 4-year-old. I think that it keeps you young."

Of his appearance, Jackson, who shares daughter Juno Rose Diana with ex Jodie Turner-Smith, jokes, "The gray hair might tell you a little different."

But he also notes that happiness — and a difference in facial hair — might have something to do with his youthful look.

"I think it's just that I shaved, really," Jackson says. "I mean, I am happy. I'm very happy, but I think it's that I shaved. I think I look a lot younger without a full COVID beard."

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Related: Joshua Jackson Shares Rare Comments About His Daughter Juno: 'So Thankful That I Get to Be Your Dada'

He goes on to discuss about what he and Juno like to do together these days, "We're in a big Lion King phase right now, so that's good," he says. "And yeah, I mean, go to the park, sit at home, do arts and crafts.

"She's just awesome. She's just the most fun in the world," adds the Dawson's Creek alum, who was present at the Emmys earlier in the evening to present the teen drama's executive producer Greg Berlanti with the Governor’s Award.

Juno is the only child for Jackson and Turner-Smith, 38. The former couple welcomed their daughter in 2020, after PEOPLE confirmed their marriage on Aug. 18, 2019.

The Queen & Slim actress filed for divorce in October 2023; the following month, she and Jackson agreed to joint physical and legal custody of their daughter, with neither party paying child support.

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Related: Joshua Jackson Admits There Have 'Definitely Been Times' He's 'Questioned' Continuing His Acting Career

Next up for Jackson is Doctor Odyssey, in which he takes on the lead role of Max, an "on-board doctor for a luxury cruise ship where the staff works hard and plays harder."

According to the series' official logline, "It’s all-hands-on-deck as Max and his small but mighty medical team navigate unique medical crises and each other, miles from shore."

"It's the first time in a very long time that I'm playing a pretty uncomplicated guy," the Dr. Death and Little Fires Everywhere alum tells PEOPLE of the new series, which premieres Sept. 26 on ABC. "He is a good doctor and a good man trying to figure out his life."

"But really, what the show [is], it's not about heavy, dramatic backstory. It's not about secret drug addiction or affairs. It's a fun, sexy, beautiful, fast-paced Ryan Murphy fantasy," he adds.

See PEOPLE's full coverage of the 76th annual Primetime Emmy Awards as they were broadcast live on ABC from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

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