Ed Westwick has had to learn "a new level of patience and compassion" since becoming a father.

The former Gossip Girl star and his wife Amy Jackson welcomed son Oscar into the world in March 2025 and while parenthood has been a "mind-blowing experience" for Ed, 38, he admitted he has had to learn to navigate testing situations in a different way.

Asked about fatherhood, Ed told Principle magazine: "It has been an absolutely surreal, mind-blowing experience.

"I think the biggest thing for me is having to deal with a new level of patience and compassion, and dealing with my own frustration.

"You know, in other situations in life, you can tell someone to get lost, you can walk away, you can stop. And when it's your baby, you can't, and you don't want to, even though you want the screaming or whatever it is to stop.

"Or, you know, there's poo all up the wall or something like that and it's all over the place.

"You've got to find a way to deal with your emotions as well, because the child can't deal with theirs."

Ed feels grateful he has been able to take time off from work to spend quality time with Oscar and Amy, who also has six-year-old son Andreas from a previous relationship, as well as for the couple to enjoy "mental health" breaks for themselves.

He said: "Both of us put a lot of time in with the kids, and we try to put time into our careers as well.

"And in all honesty, it's beautiful to have a break.

"I've been very fortunate actually, I haven't had to go and film anything since Oscar's been born, I haven't had any three months away or whatever.

"So I've had this beautiful early bonding time with my son, which has just been incredible. And he's already my best friend, it's amazing.

"But we've both had odd days here and there, or a week away max or something like that. And yeah, of course you miss them and everything like that. But it's also good. It's good for mental health to get a little break, even if it's just an hour to go for a coffee."

Looking ahead to the future, Ed and Amy, 34, are keen to find an acting project to collaborate on.

Ed confirmed: "We are actually talking about something.

"We work together anyway, we do a lot of fashion stuff together, a lot of content together, events and stuff like that. So it's a very easy thing for us to do.

"So if there's a project that comes around that's creatively satisfying and that we can make work, then of course, you know, it would be a wonderful experience to have."

Amy added: "I think it'll be a really fun project because obviously we come from the acting world, but from two very different parts of the world in that sense."

Read the full interview with Ed and Amy, accompanied by photographs by Georgina Preston, at https://principlemagazine.com/2026/04/28/ed-amy-westwick/.