Fergie and I Will Make Great Parents

In concert a dad in Life As We Know It was no hard task for Josh Duhamel.

In fact, the actor says getting to play a father is what “firstly drew me to” the role.

“For no matter what reason — I don’t know if it is my mom or my dad, but I have  always had a real affection for kids,” Duhamel, 37, admitted on the red carpet at the film’s opening in New York Thursday, adding that he knew playing a dad “would come obviously. To get happy with the triplets playing the baby in the movie, Duhamel “came in a week early, and would get on the floor with all three of them,” says the movie’s producer Barry Josephson .

Apparently, Duhamel wouldn’t be taking on parenting responsibilities alone. He says his wife Fergie would be equally loving on a child. “She’ll be a great mom,” he tells PEOPLE. “She got to meet [costar Katherine Heigl's daughter]Naleigh on set. It was great.”

Duhamel has also found a fan in Heigl’s husband Josh Kelley. “Josh is going to be an amazing dad … is you kidding me?” Kelley says. “That guy is going to be an awesome dad. He’s one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met. I love him.”