Josh Duhamel Says Things Are ‘Better Than They’ve Ever Been’ at Age 52: Staying ‘Young and Youthful’ (Exclusive)

Josh Duhamel may be 52, but he’s feeling as young as ever.

“I gotta say, things are, things are probably better than they’ve ever been,” Duhamel says of being in his 50s in the latest edition of Us Weekly. “[I’ve got] two healthy boys, brand new, 1-year-old. [I’ve] got an amazing 11-year-old. [I’m] married, working. You know, everything is good.”

Duhamel tells Us he’s “trying to stay as young and youthful as I can” not only so he can “work as long as possible,” but also “to stay as healthy and useful to chase my 1-year-old.” (The actor shares his eldest son, Axl, with his ex-wife, Fergie, and son Shepherd with wife Audra Mari.)

“That’s as much of a reason behind this whole thing as anything is to stay as vibrant as I can for as long as I can for them,” he adds, referring to his men’s wellness brand, Gatlan Health, which focuses on testosterone replacement and weight loss.

“I’ve been, you know, doing this stuff for almost five years. Completely changed my world,” Duhamel — who stars in the upcoming Netflix western series Ransom Canyon — shares. “And I figured, what’s the shame in it?”

Keep scrolling to see what Duhamel told Us about his personal life, upcoming projects and more:

What are you currently directing in London?

It’s a movie called Preschool. It is a movie about these two dads who have preschool-aged kids who are fighting to get in the last spot in this over the top pretentious preschool, and they sabotage and undermine each other no end. And it’s really funny. We’re having such a blast. We just had a scene today [with] this group called The Wild and Crazies. It’s a kids’ group that’s all the rage, and so we shot this slightly inappropriate children’s band, and it just went off the rails. I can’t wait. It’s [through] Paramount. [They] will decide what they’re gonna do with it. You know, we’ll see. So yeah, we’re finishing day seven today [and] start day eight tomorrow.

How would you describe Gatlan Health?

It’s a men’s health, wellness, longevity company. We do all the things that Hammond [does], but also TRT replacement. We’ll do GLP-1. We’ll do basically all the other things that they do as well. … There’s so much shame around it, so I figured maybe we can take the stigma off of it, shine a light on it, and that’s really what we’re about, you know, improving the lives of men everywhere.

Why do you think people don’t want to talk about these issues?

I think hormone therapy in general is becoming more accepted and less something to be embarrassed about. It’s actually improving the lives of both men and women. So, that was kind of my reasoning behind it, was like, “There’s an opportunity here to take the stigma off of it, and make it something that’s more widely accepted and talked about.”

When is it going to market?

We’re up-and-running now. We’re just about to start our marketing campaign on it. … [It] took us a couple of years to get to this point, Dr. Robert Lufkin getting on board, one of the foremost longevity doctors in the world. And we just want to be one of those companies that people go to for health and wellness and longevity.”

How is Axl doing? Does he like acting and singing?

These days, we’ve got a giant imagination. No thoughts of being an actor. He’s got an amazing singing voice, but he’d rather just play soccer. He wants to be a professional soccer player, He went from superheroes and Spider-Man costumes to an obsession with soccer overnight.

Are you a soccer dad? Are you taking him to all those games?

I sure am whenever I can. … I’m taking him to an Arsenal game next week here in London.

Why should fans be excited about your new show ‘Ransom Canyon’?

I just saw the first episode last night, and I was really happy with it. It’s beautifully shot. It’s really well-directed. I think the story is gonna be something people really get engaged with, and I get a chance to ride a horde and run a ranch, something I’ve never done on screen. But, you know, I live a similar life out in Minnesota [in] a cabin. I don’t have cattle or horses or anything, but I am driving a tractor most of the time.

As far as this character, I really related to him [in] a lot of ways because it’s all about his land, legacy, taking care of family, preserving what his family built over the years. It’s really all the things that I related [to]. I know it’s based on this beloved series, as well.

What do you watch on Netflix?

Honestly not much, mostly sports. I haven’t had a lot of time. I’ve mostly been chasing around that 1-year-old. I haven’t seen a lot of TV. [I’m] in the middle of prepping this movie [and] now we’re in the middle of shooting it. That is pretty much all I’m doing at the moment.

Have you been watching kids’ shows like ‘Bluey’ with Shepherd?

He’s not quite there yet. He’s getting interested. He started walking around nine months earlier than we expected him to, so we had do a crash course in home safety just to make sure the place was child-driven. That was one of the things we really had to focus on.

Which of your movies did you enjoy working on the most?

Every one was so different. I had so much fun on the beaches of North Carolina [while filming] Safe Haven. I had a blast in the Dominican shooting Shotgun Wedding. We were in Canada shooting Bandit, and that was one of the more difficult shoots, also one of the most rewarding. So, each one of them has their own advantages, disadvantages, hardships and triumphs and all those things that you go through on a set. … Every single job feels like a different, new adventure. It’s like you meet a new group of people in the world. You’re all there to do the same thing. You set it up, you do it, and then everybody kind of goes away, and then you go do it again somewhere else. And they’re always different depending on location or story or cast, or a million different variables that can make it amazing or make it really tough.

Is that why you’re in Minnesota when you’re not filming and directing?

Yeah. I find that we spent more and more time back in North Dakota, at the cabin. I love Los Angeles, but I also loved being out in the woods, away from it all. The older I get, the more I enjoy that. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a simpler way of living. … When we first started building this place, [there] was no running water, no electricity in one of the cabins. We were washing our dishes in the lake. With time, we sort of shaped it and made it into what we wanted it to be. And now, it’s become our happy place. [It’s] the place we’d rather be more than [anywhere].

Part of the reason is because I was able to build it, my own, but also because I’m always busy in Los Angeles. … The simplicity of [it] is what makes me so fond of it, because I’m never bored. I’m up and working all day long, right through, going back to my childhood, in some ways, seeing it through my kids’ [eyes]. But that, to me, has become the place that I run away to whenever I get into things.

What other projects do you have lined up?

There’s a movie called London Calling I did with Allan [Ungar]. I got another one called Off the Grid, another one called The Neglected. There’s a bunch of stuff going on. … Honestly, I need to take some time off.

Do you take Gatlan every day?

[It’s] one of those things that you do once a week depending on what it is that you’re doing and what the doctor describes. So, for me, it’s once a week.

We have amazing doctors. Dr. Lufkin is truly one of the foremost longevity doctors in the world. He’s [written] several books on it, speaks all over the place about it and he’s taught me a ton about this stuff. And I have a fascination with it, because, like I said, I want to be able to stay as useful as I can for as long as I can, not only for work and everything else, but mostly for the kids and my wife. I think a lot of guys feel that way. I want to be the guy that makes it OK.