NEW YORK CITY—Josh Duhamel admits that his wife, Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson, may be better at picking his on-screen partners than he is. On one vacation, she spotted actor Katherine Heigl and decided Duhamel should meet her. “We were walking to our hotel and she said, ”˜There’s Katherine Heigl. You should make a movie with her.’

“She is much more extroverted than me, and she introduced us to Katie and her husband, Josh Kelley, who is a musician. We went to a club that night where Josh and his band were playing. The band called my wife on-stage to sing, and they were great together. Katie and I sat there in awe of their talents, but we also had some time, so we talked about working together. It took a while to find something, but we’re happy with the choice we made.”

That choice is Life as We Know It, which opens Friday (October 8) in Vancouver. It tells the story of two people who are surprised that married friends set them up on a date when they have nothing in common. Holly is a romantic control freak and Eric is a disorganized womanizer. When these same friends die in a car crash a few years later, Holly and Eric discover that one bad date isn’t the worst of it. Those friends left them their house and their baby daughter, Sophie, with the hope that they would stay in the home and raise the girl together.

In a New York City hotel room, Duhamel says that he is quite unlike his character. He’s been with Fergie for six years and says that he sees himself as a serial monogamist. “I have been in relationships for a long time. Dating always scared the crap out of me, so I could relate to his [his character’s] dislike at going out on formal dates. My approach to relationships has been that I needed to make very sure that I wanted to date this person, and I had to make sure I wanted to be with them. I think you know when you feel something for someone.”

Although Fergie might have gotten it right when it came to the chemistry between Duhamel and Heigl, there was another relationship that was at least as important to the success of the movie. The filmmakers weren’t too worried about new mother Heigl’s ability to work with the triplets who played Sophie, but director Greg Berlanti did feel that the childless Duhamel might have problems relating to small children. However, Duhamel says he feels just as comfortable with children as he does with adults.

“Before we ever started shooting, they had me go to Atlanta early to acclimate myself with the kids and get me comfortable with them, and that was huge for me in the movie because they really responded to me. I went out there and I got to know them well before we started shooting. It was helpful, because you didn’t have to take them off the set all the time. They could stay there and they could live on the set and it made them feel comfortable, and that is one of the reasons why those cute little triplets worked well in the movie. I have an affinity for kids, and I think they do for me as well. Maybe that is because we can understand each other on the same emotional level.”

Duhamel says he told Berlanti that although he would do almost anything to help make the film funny, he didn’t want the audience to think of either him or the character as a male bimbo.

“Greg and I talked a lot about this,” he says. “I didn’t want to do a lot of shirtless stuff or anything that was gratuitous. If I was going to do it, I wanted it to be funny. So he pitched this moment in the movie. He said, ”˜I know you didn’t want to do a lot of the shirtless stuff, but we are having the baby walk by in her diaper and carrying a baby bottle. Would you mind walking past with underwear and a beer bottle?’ I said, ”˜That’s funny; I will do it.’ And now it is on the movie poster.”

This could be Duhamel’s big break. He’s costarred in other romantic comedies, including Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! and When in Rome, but in this film he’s an over-the-title star for the first time. He says he doesn’t see the point in worrying about whether this film or any other one will turn him into a movie star.

“I think of fame as being like those little floaties in your eye. If you stare at them long enough, you think you’ve lined them up, but you are always going to be right next to it. So if that’s what you are looking for, you’re probably going to be disappointed.”