Kurt Russell has reflected on his decision to leave Los Angeles for Colorado decades ago, a move that raised eyebrows in Hollywood at the time but has never regretted.
talking to PEOPLE At Madison’s FYC Panel in Los Angeles on May 30, the 75-year-old actor talked about the log cabin ranch he and his partner Goldie Hawn, 80, built together in Old Snowmass about 40 years ago, and why life in Colorado suits him in ways that city life simply never did.
“When Goldie and I got together a couple of years later, we both built a ranch there, where our family grew up,” he said.
“That was 40 years ago.” The move was driven by the desire to live closer to nature and eventually engage in livestock farming, a world away from the industrial city he was leaving behind.
“What I want to see, what I want to be a part of, all the things Colorado has to offer,” he explained.
“I wanted to eventually dedicate myself to the ranching life.”
At the time, many in the industry viewed the decision as career suicide.
“When I did it, no one else was doing it,” Russell recalled. “A lot of people told me, ‘Well, that’s goodbye. That’s it.’ I said, ‘Well, we’ll see.'”
He was careful to clarify that the move was never to escape from anything.
“I wasn’t running away. I was just living where I live,” he said. “I was lucky that it didn’t really make any difference.”
Years later, he has seen others follow a similar path outside of Los Angeles, something he notes without any particular satisfaction.
His feelings about the city itself remain clear.
“I don’t dislike LA. It’s just not my preference in terms of how I like to live my life.” And about the community he chose: “Everyone who lives there lives there because they want to. I can’t say the same about Los Angeles.”
For Russell, much of the satisfaction came from raising his family in that environment.
He and Hawn share son Wyatt Russell, while also raising children Oliver and Kate Hudson from his previous relationship with Bill Hudson, along with Russell’s son Boston from his marriage to Season Hubley.
“They grew up with a good dose of what nature has to offer,” he said. “This brings difficulties, but also great rewards.”
The upbringing reminded him of his own childhood in Maine.
“Once you’re exposed to that kind of thing, you’re always home,” he said. “I’m very, very happy that I was able to do that.”
