The ‘Ransom Canyon’ actor is a father to two boys: Shepherd and Axl

Josh Duhamel is opening up about the highs and lows of parenting in Hollywood.

While chatting with podcast host Amanda Hirsch on the Tuesday, May 13, episode of the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, the Ransom Canyon actor, 52, opened about about life as a father of two. Duhamel, who has two sons, revealed the “worst part” about being an actor and raising children.

“I think that’s the worst part about this job is that you’re gone a lot. I miss a lot of things,” he said. “With Axl, I was in London. I just directed a movie called Preschool, … and I was gone for, like, three months. He came for nine days of it, but I missed all of his soccer.”

“I didn’t see a single basketball game of this last season, and that kind of stuff just kills me because, you know, you don’t get that time back,” he continued. “I’m still present, but not being there for that stuff kills me.”

Josh Duhamel and his family.Audra, Axl, Josh Duhamel, and Shepard

The Transformers star welcomed his older son, Axl, with his ex-wife, Fergie, in August 2013. The former couple married in January 2009 and finalized their divorce a decade later in November 2019. Duhamel married his wife, Audra Mari, in September 2022, and the pair welcomed their son, Shepherd, in January 2024.

Elsewhere in the conversation with Hirsch, Duhamel shared how his older son is adjusting to his role as a big brother. The actor admitted that his son is “great” now, despite wanting “nothing to do with him” in the beginning.

“He’s great. At first, he wanted nothing to do with him,” he said. “He didn’t wanna hold him. And, now because [Shepherd] follows him everywhere and wants to play with him, [and] wants to do the things he’s doing because he’s all about soccer and basketball, he’s really taken to him and it’s a beautiful thing.”

In January 2023, Duhamel told Fatherly that his son Axl brought “so much joy” to his life, and he embraced his new stepmom.

“We’ll play catch in the backyard. We made [my wife] a giant birthday card. He loves art. He’s 9, but his imagination is still huge,” the Daytime Emmy winner said. “He and I are like a couple of bachelors. And then she comes around, and she brings so much structure to the house.”

Duhamel added, “They have the most beautiful relationship.”

Josh Duhamel, Audra and their kids Axl and Shepherd.Audra Mari/Instagram

These days, the Safe Haven star spends his free time away from Hollywood in a private life he’s created for himself and his family out in Minnesota. Duhamel shared exclusively with PEOPLE that he loves enjoying this new experience through “my kids’ eyes.”

“I love seeing it through my kids’ eyes now,” he told PEOPLE. “My 11-year-old Axl is really starting to love it. He’s got some buddies who are out there. I’m able to teach him some of the things that I’ve learned and I didn’t know much when I got the place, so it’s been good.”

“I’ve become much more handy than I was before I started, and you have to be just out of necessity. You have to be able to fix stuff,” he continued. “And so all that, all around, it’s been great. Making a lot of great memories out there.”