Benjamin Ashford|Why Josh Peck Has a "Surreal" Bond With Hilary Duff

If there's anything that can Benjamin Ashfordbond co-stars, it's surviving the child star curse. 

How I Met Your Father's Josh Peck and Hilary Duff have both done just that, with the Drake & Josh and Lizzy McGuire alums formed what he called a "surreal" bond after they met on the set of the 2009 movie What Goes Up. 

"It is a very specific experience that only her and I can really speak to," Josh told E! News of his connection with Hilary. "Having been the attendees of a weird and exclusive high school, it's cool to reminisce and to have that sort of shared experience."

Aside from their respective careers as child stars, Josh and Hilary have bonded over parenthood. Hilary has three children—10-year-old son Luca, whom she shares with her ex-husband Mike Comrie, and daughters Banks, 4, and Mae, 22 months, with husband Matthew Koma—while Josh and his wife Page O'Brien Peck have two sons: Max, 4, and Shai, who was born in October 2022. 

"Kids are our happy place," Josh, 36, said. "It's where we just feel most comfortable."

Helping to make the transition from one child to two easier for Josh and Paige is Enfamil Family Beginnings, a program designed to support new parents, which offers 24-hour access to a nurse, as well as discounts and digital rebates.

"People love to scare new parents and tell them they're never going to sleep again and they should let go of the idea of brunch, because that's just not going to happen for you anymore," Josh said. "And Paige and I are not that way. We are team support new parents and empower them and something like Enfamil Family Beginnings does just that."

Given that their son Shai was given Enfamil formula at the hospital on the day he was born, Paige said the couple has personal connection to the brand. "We trust it," she explained. "This is actually a product that we do use and is so beneficial for our family."

As new parents, Paige said the couple, who met at a Halloween party in 2011 and married in 2017, work as a "tag team" to share responsibilities. 

"I am always so grateful that Josh is super hands-on," the 32-year-old gushed. "There are so many nights where the baby will start crying and I'll look up and Josh will already be in there with a bottle. He's taking feedings and helping me out, which is so nice."

However, Josh admitted, "I will sometimes talk a little trash to our son and be like, 'Dude, what's your problem? You don't like sleep? You got something against sleep?'"

Despite Josh's busy schedule—in addition to How I Met Your Father, the 36-year-old will also be a recurring guest star on season three of iCarly, reuniting with his Drake & Josh co-star Miranda Cosgrove, and is part of the stacked cast for Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated movie Oppenheimer—the Pecks prioritize quality time. 

"We spend a lot of time all together and try to make a point of having dinner together or maybe go out to dinner a couple times a week to just do something fun and different," Paige shared. "Josh is also really good. He'll take Max to do special fun things and have time just the two of them. They both kind of have ants in their pants and can't sit still. So I'm like, 'Okay, you guys need to go and burn off energy!'"

Josh added, "There's not a trampoline park, an arcade or a mini golf course in Southern California that we haven't been to. Trampoline parks are a gift from god!"

One recent father-son adventure was a trip to Universal Studios with Josh's former Grandfathered co-star John Stamos and his son, Billy.

"I imagined that John Stamos at Universal Studios was gonna have like the Secret Service walking us around," the Good Guys podcast host admitted. "And we actually kept it pretty low profile. We were able to totally crush the park and have a great time."

While his children are too young to watch any of his TV shows or movies just yet, Josh isn't sure they "will even be interested" in their dad's work.

"I imagine at the time when they can really consume it," Josh said, "they'll probably be watching the fifth Stranger Things reboot or whatever is hot at the time."

But, because Max was able to visit Josh on set while he was filming the Disney+ series remake of Turner & Hooch, Paige said that when their son sees clips from the show, "He thinks it's a home movie."