He’s enjoying the rough life.
Josh Duhamel left Los Angeles to live off-grid in the remote Minnesota home he’s been working on for over 15 years — and he has no regrets.
“It was about this land out there,” Duhamel, 52, exclusively told The Post while promoting his latest movie, “London Calling.”
“I knew I wanted to be out away from everything in the woods and build sort of my own little oasis, in a way. And it’s taken a long time,” he continued. “It was a lot of pickaxes and shovels in the beginning.”
The change in scenery wasn’t always easy for the “Ransom Canyon” star, however, as he was without basic utilities early in the process.
“It was no electricity or water for a while,” the “Las Vegas” alum shared. “Then we dug wells. Then we built a sink in the kitchen, and we built the bathroom, and it became a little bit less rugged and a little bit more normalized, at least to what we’re used to.”
“So it’s been a process, and I really appreciated the process, because we got to make sure we got enough wood and water and food because we’re 40 miles from anything and we’re deep in the woods,” he continued. “So we got to make sure that we’re prepared.”
Duhamel first bought his Minnesota property shortly before tying the knot with Fergie, 50, in 2009.
The former couple welcomed one child together, son Axl Jack, 12, before separating in Sept. 2017 after eight years of marriage. Their divorce was finalized in November 2019.
In 2022, the “All My Children” alum married model Audra Mari. Duhamel and the former Fargo, North Dakota, beauty queen welcomed their son, Shepherd Lawrence, in Jan. 2024.
The “Transformers” star admitted that he’s fallen for the Minnesota wilderness and the idea of living outside the glitz and glamour confines of LA with his wife and two sons.
“I think that was what I weirdly fell in love with,” Duhamel said. “It became about just the basics, hand-to-mouth, making sure that I could take care of everybody, and we had enough just to stay alive out there, especially in the winter.”
But after 15 years, Duhamel’s Minnesota property has become less of a project and more of a “normalized” home.
“So that was the beginning,” he shared. “Now it’s pretty. We’ve got all the amenities that we need. I still try to keep it a bit like it used to be. But it’s nice to have a warm shower and a toilet.”
“We’re not using outhouses anymore, thank God,” Duhamel joked.
As for “London Calling,” the actor opened up about what led him to choose a role where he portrays a hired gun in an action comedy – especially after 25 years of mostly soap operas, rom-coms and Westerns.
“I think that when you start, you just kind of take whatever you can get and try to make the most of whatever opportunity,” he told The Post regarding the trajectory of his career as an actor. “And that was what I did when I first started, I just tried to take whatever little window of opportunity I had and just jump through it.“
“It’s been a really fun 25 years,” Duhamel continued. “I learned a lot over the years. You make decisions differently based on family, based on location, based on director, based on script.”
He went on to reveal the two most important things he now looks for when choosing roles.
“More than anything, if you don’t have a great script, I try to stay away from it because it’s hard to make a good movie if you don’t have a good script,” Duhamel told The Post. “And I just try to surround myself, whether it’s as an actor or a director, with the best talent and not just talent, but good people.”
He added: “Life is too short not to work with really good, easy people who don’t take themselves too seriously.”
The Allan Ungar-directed flick, which hit theaters Sept. 19, stars Duhamel as Tommy Ward, a hitman and British ex-pat hiding out in LA after accidentally killing the relative of London’s biggest crime lord.
Duhamel said the role forced him “to get [his] ass in shape,” and opened up about how being healthy for an action-heavy film like “London Calling” was “definitely a motivator.”
“I think that’s what the fun part about this is,” he said. “Every job is a little bit different. Sometimes you got to be really, really ready. Sometimes you don’t. This business forces you to kind of keep your body, your health and everything else in check.”
“I think that this is a movie that really required that because there was a lot of action, a lot of running, a lot of wrestling around, a lot of flying around in the dirt,” he explained. “Which I love. This is why I got into this business.”
