Daniel Stern, known for playing Marv Murchins in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, decided he made enough money and decided to ditch Hollywood and move with his family to a farm in California. He now raises cattle, grows tangerines, and works as a sculptor.
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"Hello, as you will come to discover, I live on a farm, and we grow tangerines here," Stern said, surprising his followers on a viral TikTok video. "I juice them up and then freeze them and give them away to my friends." Now living disconnected from Hollywood, Stern is satisfied with the life he is living, focusing on his art and craft.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Stern stated that he is now living his "real life." Other than growing delicious tangerines, he also hikes, raises cattle, and creates sculptures out of bronze. This comes in contrast with the "overwhelming" attention he received while he was a Hollywood actor. He starred in movies such as the Home Alone movies, the City Slickers movies, and many other films. But at a certain point, he had enough.
"I made enough money that I didn't have to work," Stern told PEOPLE. This decision comes after he and his wife calculated that they had, in fact, reached that moment in life where they didn't need to work given the amount of money they saved up. Stern bought the farm and his life changed dramatically.
However, he loves "being in nature" and "being away. "I love my solitude and I love being able to focus on what I'm making," Stern said. "So the farm world is a great place for me."
An Artist
While the tangerine-loving man continues to raise cattle, he has also dedicated his time to becoming a sculptor. In some way, to him, sculpting is similar to the sensation of being at a Hollywood production. "I'm fascinated by the cinematographer and the prop department. It takes all these people," Stern said. "So I love living in all these different worlds. It's the same in my sculpture world."
Those "people" he mentions are the city council who commissioned his work, the city engineer, the foundry, and the mold makers, among others. For him, having people around him outside of show business makes him live his "real life."
Moreover, his newfound love for nature and sculpting earned him a following on TikTok. Daniel Stern describes being "tickled" by his TikTok followers who have discovered his new facet as a farmer and sculptor. "What I love about social media is you can tell your story, and it feels good to tell it," Stern said. "And sort of that's the final step of any artistic creation is giving it to an audience."
