Kurt Russell, 75, has always been a man of his own mind. In a recent interview, he admitted that leaving Los Angeles for Colorado wasn’t initially seen as a smart career move. However, the actor insisted on making the change 40 years ago, and he still stands by that decision without any regrets.
Russell shared his reasons for moving to Colorado during a conversation at the Madison FYC Panel in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 30. He told People that he wanted to live in a place where he could pursue the things he truly valued on a daily basis. “What I want to look at, what I want to be a part of — all the things that Colorado has to offer,” he said. “I wanted to eventually get into the ranching life.”
His partner, Goldie Hawn, 80, was supportive of the move. The couple has been together since 1983 and have a son, Wyatt Russell, 39. Hawn also has children from previous relationships: Oliver Hudson, 49, Kate Hudson, 47, and Boston Russell, 46, whose mother is ex-wife Season Hubley. The two were married from 1979 to 1983.
“When Goldie and I got together, a couple of years later, we both built a ranch there together, where our family has grown up,” Russell explained. “That was 40 years ago.”
Despite the initial skepticism, Russell didn’t see the move as an escape. “I wasn’t escaping,” he said. “I was just living where I live. I was fortunate that it really didn’t make any difference. But when I did it, nobody else was doing that. I had many people tell me, ‘Well, that’s goodbye. That’s it.’ I said, ‘Well, we’ll see.’”
Even though the trend of moving away from cities became more common during the pandemic, it wasn’t always a popular choice. “I don’t dislike L.A.,” Russell admitted. “It’s just not my preference in terms of how I like to live my life.”
He described the community of Old Snowmass, near Aspen, as one where everyone lives there because they choose to. “You’ve got to understand something about the area of Old Snowmass,” he began. “Everybody who lives there, they live there because they want to. I can’t say that about L.A.”
Living in Colorado is vastly different from city life, according to Russell. “It’s very different from living in a city,” he said. “They grew up with a good dose of what nature can offer. There are difficulties to it, but there are also great rewards to it. I’m just more comfortable there.”
He takes pride in living outside the Hollywood bubble. “It was like the way I grew up in Maine,” he said. “I suppose, once you’re exposed to that kind of thing, it’s always home. Everything we did there in terms of what we built and what we have in terms of being able to offer in life for our children, I’m really, really happy that we were able to do that.”
