Funny man Josh Peck has grown up in the public eye! Fans watched him go from Drake & Josh star to YouTube sensation to super dad, and in 2022, the actor opened up about his whirlwind rise to fame in the book Happy People Are Annoying.
The Nickelodeon alum decided to write a book after realizing he was “at this inflection point” in his life.
“I had spent over 20 years working at this profession that I thought defined me. I started when I was 10, so I literally thought it was my identity,” Josh admitted to Forbes in March 2022. “I had never been anything other than a working actor. But over those 20 years, I also lost 100 pounds, got sober from drugs and alcohol, started a whole new career in social media when showbiz had stalled out on me. I got married, had a child and faced the way I viewed happiness.”
The actor married his wife, Paige O’Brien Peck, in 2017. They welcomed their their first child, son Max Milo Peckmin December 2018 and baby No. 2, son Shai Miller Peck, in October 2022. When reflecting on his life, Josh has said he finally found happiness.
“I was always looking for something outside to fix my insides,” the Red Dawn star explained to People in March 2022. “But eventually I realized that whether my life was beyond my wildest dreams or a total mess, it didn’t change the temperature of what was going on in my mind. I knew that nothing in the outside world would make me feel whole.”
However, “by walking through discomfort and by doing my best to break down the false identity I had for myself,” Josh explained that he’s since gotten “to the place that I was always seeking.”
The Turner & Hooch alum added, “I’m just trying to do good work that makes people happy,” explaining that he finally has “love” for his younger self.
“But now I understand how strong he was,” Josh shares. “And I feel like everything in my life set me up to find this chapter of health, peace and contentment.”
Scroll through our gallery to see how the actor has transformed over the years.
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