Josh Duhamel may be well known for being a big Hollywood star, between his roles in the Transformers movies, various romantic comedies and one of the best shows to binge on Netflix right now, Ransom Canyon. But that doesn’t mean he’s buying into the Hollywood lifestyle. A growing number of celebrities are leaving Los Angeles for other destinations to call home, and Duhamel is one of them. Did you know the actor and father of two lives in a lake side home out in the Minnesota woods?
Duhamel apparently even built the home himself, for his wife Audra Mari, their baby boy Shepherd, and Duhamel’s 11-year-old son with ex Fergie, Axl. Here’s why Duhamel loves living outside of Los Angeles:
For me, it’s just given me purpose as far as my off time. I want to be out there building things, teaching my kids, being out there. I didn’t even own a lawn mower in Los Angeles. Out there I’m on a tractor all day. It’s like two different worlds.
When Duhamel recently spoke to Entertainment Tonight, he painted a fulfilling picture of his life in Minnesota, where his kids have access to outdoorsy activities, and surely more privacy than famous families living in the City of Angels. The actor bought an empty piece of land 16 years ago and has been hard at work making it his own since. As he continued:
…I think it’s so good for my boy and my baby boy now. To just start to learn how to do some of the basic things I think we’ve either forgotten or never learn how to do. I never learned how to do this stuff.
Duhamel said his son Axl loves living out there too after previously living in Hollywood, too. He’s apparently got a huge group of friends and is into water sports like jetskiing and tubing, readily available at the small lake by their home. Plus, his mom still lives in Los Angeles, so he gets a little bit of both, I imagine.
The movie seems to echo a lot of other celebrities who have decided to move outside of Hollywood’s epicenter for a more balanced existence. Matthew McConaughey, for example, moved his family back home to Texas to live on a ranch and made a pact with his wife to only say yes to projects really wanted to do after overexerting himself in the world of rom-coms.
Marvel star Florence Pugh also talked about leaving Los Angeles for London last year to be closer to her friends, but has wondered in both instances if she’s a “city girl.” In a few years, I wouldn’t be surprised if she moves to the countryside, too!
Duhamel is the star of a new Netflix series, alongside Minka Kelly, that follows three battling families fighting for land in the Texas countryside. You can check it out now with a Netflix subscription.