Josh Duhamel Revealed How Off-Grid Cabin Prepped Him for ‘Ransom Canyon’
Actor Josh Duhamel has revealed how spending time at his rustic “doomsday prepper cabin” in Minnesota served as the perfect crash course for his rancher role in the hit Netflix series “Ransom Canyon.”
Duhamel, 53, has owned a sprawling property just across the border from his home state of North Dakota for more than a decade now—during which time he has slowly transformed the rugged parcel into an idyllic off-grid retreat for his family.
Now, ahead of the release of Season 2 of his Netflix series, in which he stars as ranch owner Staten Kirkland, the actor is opening up about the parallels between his own life and the one he portrays on screen, explaining during an appearance on CBS Mornings that there are ample similarities between art and reality.
“I have a cabin just on the other side of the border from North Dakota, in Minnesota, which is very ranch-like,” he told hosts Gayle King and Nate Burleson. “It’s a cabin, it’s a lot of property, a lot of land we have to take care of.
“So I kind of live this life anyway in a lot of ways.”
He even hinted that the time he was spending at his cabin convinced him to take the role, revealing that he was at the property when showrunner April Blair first contacted him about “Ransom Canyon.”
“Actually when I talked to April Blair about this show three years ago, I was out there at my cabin and I was sort of in the mood to do something like this. She caught me at the perfect time,” he said.
Duhamel conceded that there are some key contrasts between his at-home life and that of his on-screen character—largely the fact that he doesn’t currently have any horses or livestock, which play a key role in the Netflix show.
“I don’t have horses and cattle, but I do have tractors and all the equipment and stuff,” he shared.
And it’s not just his life at his off-grid haven that contributed to his portrayal of Kirkland. Duhamel noted that he grew up being exposed to the kind of very rural environment seen in the series, albeit in North Dakota rather than Texas.
Remarkably, he confessed that he actually struggled with a fear of horses when he was younger, despite the hosts noting that he looks so natural on horseback in the show.
“I grew up in North Dakota which is in close proximity to a lot of horses and I did ride a bit, but I was never a guy who was like, ‘I can’t wait to go ride a horse!’ I was always a little bit skittish,” he said.
“One of my friends got kicked in the head when I was young and I was always like, ‘I don’t want to get kicked in the head or bucked off.'”
However, the horse that he is working with on the show, JW, helped him to get much more comfortable with riding and with being around the animals, with Duhamel explaining that he now understands “why people love … why they have such a relationship with their horses.”
He stopped short of saying he plans to get his own horses at his cabin property, where he has been spending more and more time in recent years—even going as far as to list his longtime Los Angeles home for sale so that he and his wife, Audra Mari, can focus on their life near their home state of North Dakota.
The “Transformers” star put the four-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom abode on the market on June 25, with an asking price of $2.99 million, and within days the property came under offer. Records show that it is currently “pending” sale.
Duhamel—who recently welcomed his second child with Mari, a baby girl named Rocca—had previously split his time between his L.A. dwelling, his family’s home in Fargo, ND, and the off-grid cabin, which is located in the Land of 10,000 Lakes; however, his decision to let go of his California home suggests he is moving away from spending time in the Golden State.
The father of three, who shares a son with his ex-wife, Fergie, has previously made clear his desire to increase the amount of time his family spends at his off-grid “doomsday prepper” cabin, explaining in a recent interview that being at the property helps him to de-stress.
He first opened the doors to his cabin in an October 2023 video shoot with YouTube host Graham Besinger, during which he described the property as a true “paradise,” one that is equipped to help the actor and his family ride out whatever disaster may occur in the near future, natural or otherwise.
Duhamel shared that he bought the property around 18 years ago, thanks to his dad, who brought him out to see it for the first time.
“He knew I wanted a place that was away from everything, something remote,” he said.
Duhamel began his off-grid spread with the purchase of a 12-acre parcel, which he has since expanded to around 50 acres after buying up additional plots.
Taking Bensinger on a tour of his Minnesota property, the self-described “doomsday prepper” revealed he has installed multiple survival resources on his property, including three wells and “food plots,” including several filled with clover and chicory to help lure in game to hunt.
While he noted that he had never hunted growing up, he explained it felt like an essential skill to learn in order to ensure that he was fully prepared to provide for his family in dire circumstances.
“Part of being out here, I have a fear of having to move out here and live off the land,” he explained. “I don’t know if that’s ever going to happen. But I feel it’s a skill I need to learn.”
Duhamel added that he was inspired by the “Patriots” survival guide and confessed that he worried about the delicate nature of a society so tech dependent.
“We lose our cellphones, and we all lose our g**d*** minds,” he said, imagining what the future might look like if the stock market were to crash, triggering a shortage of fuel and food. “I just want a place where I could just get away to until things get back to normal.”
However, when Duhamel first purchased the property, he admitted that it was in a very rustic state, telling Country Living in April 2025 that the cabin didn’t have plumbing for many years.
“We were basically homesteading the first 12 years. For the longest time, we didn’t have plumbing. We were using outhouses and washing dishes in the lake,” he admitted.
Over the years, Duhamel has upgraded his cabin with a slew of amenities, including plumbing. However, it has maintained its rustic charm.
“I feel so connected to it. I didn’t just buy the place, I shaped this place,” he explained. “While we’ve made a lot of improvements, you still feel like you’re roughing it, and I love that.”
Despite those drawbacks, Duhamel has been open about his desire to spend more time at the property, revealing during a recent appearance on Dana Carvey and David Spade‘s “Fly on the Wall” podcast that he instantly feels all stress melting away when he’s there.
“What I think I love the most about it is I just get out there and my heart rate drops about 25%,” he said. “My priorities change too, I feel like I have a purpose.”
Duhamel explained that he also has a lot more to occupy his time when he’s at the Minnesota dwelling—admitting that when he’s in Los Angeles, he barely gets the opportunity to do basic yard work.
“I’m always working on something where I don’t even mow my own lawn [in L.A.],” he said. “It’s just absolute freedom out there.”
He revealed to the podcast hosts that he has relished in the opportunity to build a true sanctuary for his family, steadily transforming the rural, rustic property into something he can be proud of.
“It’s turned into like a whole passion of mine,” he said. “I started moving dirt and I started shaping it.”
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