Kurt Russell Says Hollywood Told Him Leaving LA for Colorado Was Career Suicide and He Has Never Regretted It for a Single Day

Jun 02, 2026 by apost team

Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn have been together for more than 40 years and for most of that time, they have been living a life that looks nothing like what most people in Hollywood choose. While their peers stayed close to the industry, building lives in the city that made them famous, Russell and Hawn built a log-cabin ranch in Old Snowmass, Colorado, roughly 40 years ago and never looked back.

Russell, spoke about that decision at the Madison FYC Panel in Los Angeles in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE tied to his new Taylor Sheridan series "The Madison." The show follows characters who, like Russell and Hawn themselves, split their lives between Los Angeles and Colorado — a detail that was not coincidental.

"When Goldie and I got together, a couple of years later, we both built a ranch there together, where our family has grown up," he told PEOPLE. "That was 40 years ago." The move was driven by a desire to live closer to nature and to get into ranching — a world away from the industry town they were leaving behind. And it was not without cost. "I had many people tell me, well, that's goodbye. That's it," he said of the reaction from Hollywood peers when he and Hawn made the move. 

That did not stop them. His career went on to include "Escape from New York," "Silkwood," "Overboard," "Tombstone," and "The Hateful Eight" — among many others. The ranch in Old Snowmass remained. And Russell made clear he had no regrets about any of it.

The draw of Colorado, Russell told PEOPLE, goes back further than his relationship with Hawn. It goes back to his childhood. "It was like the way I grew up in Maine," he said, recalling a cabin his grandparents had built and where he spent formative years. "I suppose, once you're exposed to that kind of life, it never leaves you." 

What he values about Old Snowmass is specific and personal. "The things that I want to do on a day-to-day basis are there — what I want to look at, what I want to be a part of," he told PEOPLE. "I like to wake up in bed each morning looking at the mountain out back. I like to head down to the barn, saddle up a horse, and ride," he said. He has been clear that the preference is not anti-Los Angeles — simply pro-Colorado. "I don't dislike L.A., it's just not my preference in terms of how I like to live my life," he said. 

The family dimension has only deepened over the years. Together, Russell and Hawn, have raised a blended family: Boston Russell, Kurt's son from his relationship with actress Season Hubley; Oliver Hudson and Kate Hudson, Goldie's children from her marriage to Bill Hudson; and Wyatt Russell, born July 10, 1986, the couple's son together. Wyatt now lives in Colorado with his wife, actress Meredith Hagner, and their two young children — keeping the family close in the place they have always loved best.

"They grew up with a good dose of what nature can offer," Russell said of his children. "There are difficulties to it, but there are also great rewards to it. I'm just more comfortable there."

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