Dax Shepherd has written and directed his own movie, Hit & Run and stars in it with his lovely wife, Kristen Bell. Playboy asked him 20 questions about his career, a whole heap of bad habits and how he manages to get those girls that most people think are way out of his league. Kristen Bell has been a straight laced vegan for many years and it looks like she has finally got Dax to join the cause, he has been feeling healthier since being a vegan from January.
We’ve picked out some of our favourite questions, here:
So was that really you driving like an outlaw in Hit & Run?
SHEPARD: One hundred percent. I’m from Detroit, and my life has been driving cars. In high school it was drag racing. Then I worked for GM because my mother had a company that put on big car shows for journalists. We’d rent out Michigan International Speedway, and I got tons and tons of seat time in these crazy cars that a 16-year-old should never be allowed to drive. I fucking love cars, and I’ve wanted to do a car-chase movie all my life
Correct us again, but it also appears that your superhot, superfamous co-star and fiancée, Kristen Bell, was actually buckled in alongside you.
SHEPARD: For every bit of it. Naturally the producer had booked a stunt double, but Kristen said to me, “No. If you’re driving through a barn and jumping other cars, I need to be in there with you. We’re going to go out together.”
She sounds like a keeper.
SHEPARD: Kristen’s a good girl. She grew up very Christian, went straight to college, did great in school and started work immediately. She’s charitable and philanthropic and rescues dogs. So when we met, our backgrounds were opposites. All the things I’d done were terrifying to her, and she had a hard time believing I would ever be able to stay married and monogamous and a father and all those things. For the first year and a half we were together that was what we battled over almost weekly.
How exactly did you get a big Hollywood career?
SHEPARD: Well, I spent many, many years unemployed. I was 20 when I moved to Los Angeles. I went on probably 600 commercial auditions and couldn’t book any of them. I went through the Groundlings. Everyone there had agents but me, and it was a ridiculously amazing group. I was there with Melissa McCarthy, who was nominated for an Oscar; Octavia Spencer, who won an Oscar; Tate Taylor, who directed The Help. Success is just a war of attrition. Sure, there’s an element of talent you should probably possess, but if you stick around long enough, eventually something is going to happen, you know?
You realize people have said that about you and every famous beautiful woman you’ve dated—Kristen, Kate Hudson.
SHEPARD: I get that. People want to see us bang. But here’s the funny thing about the response I’ve been aware of to my dating famous people: It’s been very negative. I’m either not good-looking enough, not a good enough actor or not successful enough for these people. It’s ironic, really. Guys should be excited that I got Kristen Bell. If Brad Pitt gets Kristen Bell, it’s like, “Well, of course he did.” With me, it should be, “Oh good, a normal-looking guy got her. Maybe I’ll get me a Kristen Bell.” But guys hate my guts for always dating women I have no right to be with.
What’s your secret?
SHEPARD: I attribute it to being funny and a good dancer. And I’m tall, which will get you places as well. I’m also wired for it. The times my brain works fastest are when I’m doing improv on a stage or meeting coeds in a bar.
You picked a career in which you’re surrounded by gorgeous women. Does the urge to merge ever go away?
SHEPARD: No, it doesn’t. I wish it did, magically. This is overly deep, but I have to put women in the same category I put drugs and alcohol. It’s an outside thing that I try to use to make my insides feel better, and I have learned that it just doesn’t work. I have to keep my urges in check.
For the full 20 questions go to the Playboy site to read more http://www.playboy.com/
Hit & Run is released in the UK on October 12th