Simon Rex, an actor known for his roles in the “Scary Movie” franchise and the television sitcom “What I Like About You,” is enjoying life living off-grid in the California desert.
“I live in a shipping container,” Rex, 50, said in the Aug. 6 episode.
“It’s basically a 450-square-foot room; it’s one big room. And you learn that you don’t need much. And there’s something sort of zen about that, and simplifying everything and not having a lot of clutter because you don’t need all the stuff.”
The actor, who rose to fame in 1995 as a video jockey for MTV, said he purchased the land in 2020, right before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s off-grid, you know, meaning that there is no infrastructure. I have a water well, I have solar power, and a septic tank,” Rex said. “It’s five acres, but it’s surrounded by a lot more, so it feels like you’re on 50 acres with no one around as far as you [can] see.”
Rex said he opted for the desert abode largely due to Los Angeles’s highly priced housing market.
“I wanted to get a place, and I was looking in LA, and I was like, ‘Oh man, everything’s so expensive to have a mediocre house with neighbors right next to you,’” he recalled, noting that he had also grown tired of the bustling city.
“I finally hit the place in my life where I was like, ‘I just want peace and quiet.’ I‘d been living in New York, LA, San Francisco—my whole life in an urban metropolis, in the human zoo—and I was like, ’Let me just do the total opposite.'”
The actor said he still has a rental in Los Angeles and uses the Joshua Tree property as a “getaway pad to go decompress,” describing his time in the desert as a transformative and life-changing experience.
“I go to Joshua Tree when I get annoyed in LA, and then when I get bored out there, I come back, and I go back and forth,” he said.
Life on the Go
The “Jack & Jill” star shared that he has lived a nomadic lifestyle for years, largely due to the sheer amount of traveling he has done for work.“I live in hotels. I live out of a bag for most of my life. And I prefer to be traveling because ... I like novelty, and I feel alive when I don’t know my environment and it’s out of your comfort zone,” he said.
Reflecting on his affinity for always being on the go, Rex said his upbringing may have influenced his desire to visit new places and not be tied down in Los Angeles.
“My parents divorced when I was 2, and my dad always lived in these beautiful places—he lived in Hawaii, he lived in Santa Fe,” he said.
“Growing up in San Francisco where it’s urban, cold city all the time, I loved going to visit my dad in the summer because I'd be in Hawaii or New Mexico or San Diego. I never thought about it, but maybe that’s what planted the seed. I’m also an only child, so I’m used to being alone.
“I think that’s a gift and a curse in a way because I’m OK by myself. Some people don’t understand, they’re like, ‘Wow, you really go out to Joshua Tree by yourself for days on end?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s the best.’”
In addition to his tiny house, Rex also owns an RV, which he purchased about seven years ago to explore California’s great outdoors.
“There’s so much beauty, everything west of the Rockies,” he said. “You could be stuck in California for the rest of your life with your RV and not see it all. I mean, and even if you do, you go do it again and have a different experience.”
