In the beginning of their relationship, Joshua Jackson was understandably nervous about meeting girlfriend Diane Kruger‘s mother, a German bank teller named Maria-Theresa. What the Fringe actor didn’t expect, however, was that The Bridge star’s mother had conducted her own background check. Kruger shared the story during a July 9 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“I’m from a very small village in Germany so I don’t usually bring boys back unless they’re somewhat serious,” she explained. “He came back about six months into us dating.”
Because Kruger’s mother speaks very little English, she acted as a translator during their initial meeting. “It’s a tradition in Germany when you come home to have coffee and cake. It’s very German. So I prepped him. I said, ‘You have to have cake and you have to have coffee, even if you don’t like it.'” Though Jackson, 35, has a nut allergy, Kruger recalled telling him, “‘You’re eating it. You’re definitely eating it.’ So, he did.”
“I thought we were doing really good,” Kruger, 36, said. “Then my mom goes, ‘Ahh, wait. I have something for you.’ She goes into the office and comes back with this classified folder of internet clippings of Josh with his mugshot. She thought it would be cute to go, ‘So, I see you’ve been arrested in 1997 at a hockey game. It says, ‘Whose fault was it?'”
(Jackson was actually arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct in November 2002. During a May 13, 2003 interview on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, the Dawson’s Creek alum said he was trying to break up a fight in the stands. “It was kind of a joke,” he explained. “It was crazy.”)
After Kruger’s mother brought up Jackson’s past, tensions reached an all-time high. “We were there for three days. We did not speak for two,” she recalled. “It was not good.”
The couple managed to move past the uncomfortable incident, as they’ve been together ever since. In fact, despite years of insisting that marriage wasn’t in the cards, sources recently told Us Weekly that Jackson is planning to propose. “Josh and Diane are very close to getting engaged,” a pal revealed in the June 17 issue. “They decided they’re ready for the next step. They’re excited!”
