Not all celebrities live in Hollywood. We love them for it.
Actor Josh Duhamel made headlines last week when he revealed he and his family left Los Angeles to live off-the-grid, deep in the woods of Minnesota. While it seems like a sequel to his 2004 movie Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, the North Dakota native said the move to the Midwest — "removed from everything" — gives him a sense of stability.
"You really get a chance to get back to the basics," he told Parade. "You're not consumed by all these other distractions. When you're out there, it's really about having fun, making sure everybody's warm, everybody's got food and water."
Duhamel's goal is that the house stays in the family — and that his kids appreciate the change of pace.
'My son is going to have memories of this place forever,' he said. 'He's not on his iPad when he's out there. He's out there in the boat with me, or he's playing soccer on the beach, or he's out there in the woods doing whatever I'm doing. And then I have a little baby who's going to experience the same thing. Someday I hope to pass this on to them [so] they're able to share it with their kids. It's really important to me that they have this. It's not just about having all the amenities and all the luxuries that we become so used to. It's really about family. It's about legacy.'
The story hooked Yahoo readers, with many commenters expressing support and sharing their own stories of "remote" living.
"Love it; focus on your Family! He is in a new project, and as good as ever. So, he keeps the balance of career and prioritizing his wife and kids. That is a Real Man," one person wrote.
'Good for them! He has a good head on his shoulders to make this decision. Children need nature and to get away from technology,' another added. 'At least they are [spending] time together 'as a family.' There's not a greater gift he/she could give them!'
Duhamel isn't the only famous name to choose somewhere other than Hollywood to call home. Mark Wahlberg relocated his family to Nevada. Glen Powell moved back to Texas. James Van Der Beek packed up his family in 2020 for the Lone Star State. The list goes on.
Every time a star leaves L.A. it becomes a national headline, and for the most part, overwhelmingly applauded. There are several reasons why we can't resist these stories.
Erin Meyers, a communication professor at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., tells Yahoo Entertainment that where a celebrity lives can influence people's perceptions of authenticity. Especially if said star is going back home.
"Seeing people moving out of Hollywood and return home [shows] that you're still who you always were on the inside, even as you have achieved this great fame and fortune," Meyers says, "and that's a story that we have loved from celebrities since the beginning of celebrity."
"It's this idea of fame as something that is achievable and that you could have, but it's not going to change this inner core of the good kind of person you are," she continues, saying it makes a star seem like a "down-home kind of person."
Joel Penney, an associate professor in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University, in New Jersey, points out how the "elitist" reputation Hollywood can have may play a role in the perception as well.
"Hollywood is ... seen as phony, whereas the countryside relates to this idea of authenticity and relatability," he tells Yahoo.
Sure, half the country will see any celebrity exiting California potentially as a political statement. While sometimes it can be, Penney highlights how these types of stories amplify the "culture wars" online.
"I think the political angle is part of the story," he says. "A lot of folks more on the right have really defined themselves as kind of anti-Hollywood, [which] ties to the sense of different cultural identities in the United States ... the heartland locations are seen as ... embodying that other American identity."
Penney, author of the book Pop Culture, Politics, and the News, says celebrity culture is a way "people express broader ideas about the world."
"Celebrities become these symbols for something bigger," he says. Penney believes the fact rural lifestyles tend to be "underrepresented in media and certainly in celebrity media" fuels interest too.
"There's a whole bunch of values tied up into these kinds of social settings. I think there's a real desire to see stories about this kind of more country or rural type of American life," he continues. "When a celebrity associated with Hollywood moves ... that fills a certain desire for folks to want to see themselves reflected in a certain way."
However, Meyers adds that these stories hit home "no matter what part of the political spectrum you fall on." She believes the narrative coincides with "other trends we're seeing in culture" right now "like tradwives and that kind of thing happening on social media."
"Tradwives" is a term that describes a woman who sticks to "traditional" homemaker-type values while her husband acts as the family breadwinner.
"This is a kind of a celebrity version of that," she says.
Showcasing their traditional or rural lifestyle outside of Hollywood helps stars seem more relatable. In Van Der Beek's case, for example, Meyers says people likely gravitated toward his story in that he and his wife moved their six kids out of a crowded city for greener (and bigger) pastures.
"People are interested in that — a big family, living out on the land kind of thing," she says, explaining how that "fits right in" with a star's authenticity.
In Wahlberg's case, the Boston actor didn't grow up in the countryside, but his move to Nevada fit in with the family-friendly persona he has cultivated over the past several years.
"Maybe you didn't grow up in backwoods Minnesota, but you can relate," Meyers says, "and it's so wonderful there because that's where real people are instead of 'the fakeness of Hollywood.'"
Meyers believes stars don't need to fully live an "off-the-grid" lifestyle for their story to resonate with people.
As one Yahoo reader aptly wrote, "I like [Josh Duhamel] and the sentiment, but I'm pretty sure there's also a 'I've got a few million in the tank' sort of confidence behind it.'"
That's true. And did Duhamel really build his Midwest cabin with his own bare hands? Probably not, but for the most part people don't care.
"I'm sure he had big money to spend on the kind of stuff he was building, materials and [labor]. I'm sure he didn't singlehandedly build that entire house," Meyers says. "It's not quite the off-the-grid experience that we might think of for everyday people. But it's certainly something that ties into that authenticity ... it's not Kim Kardashian's all-white and modern house."
Are we going to see all celebrities do this? No.
"But those that are, are kind of making it a part of their image, and I think are trying to tap more into that certain authentic, ordinary self," Meyers adds.
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