When he’s not working on films like the upcoming one directed by Zoë Kravitz Blink twice or exploring California in his RV, Simon Rex splits his time between a rental in LA and a … shipping container?
Former MTV VJ and acclaimed star of 2021, winner of the Independent Spirit Award Red rocket stopped by Family Travel with the Meyers Brothers to chat with hosts Josh Meyers and Seth Meyers about his semi-nomadic lifestyle and unconventional housing situation.
“I live in a shipping container in Joshua Tree. It’s basically a 450 square meter room,” Rex explained. “You learn that you don’t need a lot, and there’s something zen about that and simplifying everything and not having a lot of clutter because you don’t need all that stuff, you know?”
Simon Rex at MTV’s Rock n’ Jock Basketball Game in 1995.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
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Don’t worry though. Times weren’t exactly hard for the 90s heartthrob. Rex, 50, explained that his “shipping container” is actually a “tiny house” built by an architect out of two shipping containers on five acres in a remote area just 30 minutes from a scenic California national park.
“It’s offline, you know, which means there’s no infrastructure. I have a water well. I have solar power and a septic tank,” Rex explained. “It feels like you’re on about 50 acres with no one around as far as the eye can see. I mean, you can’t be more, as a city guy, out of your comfort zone and in nature. And so, yes, it’s a tiny box, all glass on one side.”
If that still doesn’t paint the picture, Rex posted a few photos of the charming microhabitat on Instagram in late 2022, showing off its gorgeous wood paneling and stunning desert views.
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Simon Rex’s Joshua Tree “shipping container” house.
Simon Rex/Instagram
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“I was looking at places in Joshua Tree for a while, saw some shipping containers and this guy did a really, really good job,” Rex told the Meyers brothers. “I’ve lived in New York, LA, San Francisco my whole life in an urban metropolis, in a human zoo, and I said, ‘Let me do the complete opposite.’ And I can’t even tell you. It’s like it’s life-changing. I just go there — it’s almost like my escape pad for decompression.”
Rex, who started modeling before landing the MTV gig that made him famous in 1995, said his little break in the desert was “the best thing I could have done for myself”.
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Simon Rex at the 2021 Vulture Festival in Los Angeles.
Vivien Killilea/Getty
“It’s like Jesus going into the desert for 40 days,” joked Rex. “Like, you have this experience that’s very intense. And so, after a few days alone outside, all kinds of things appear. It’s like therapy. It’s like self-induced therapy.”
“I don’t want to sound like I’m sitting outside meditating on a rock, you know?” Rex added. “Let’s just say you don’t watch TV half the time. That’s a lot of time just sitting outside in silence. But, yeah, I don’t want to sound like I’m some monk. Trust me. I also watch movies on my phone all the time.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education