Dax Shepard recently told CNN that he “hated” the late Eric Dane when they first met, and that they nearly got into a “fight” after they got into an argument at an AA meeting.
“Eric Dane, I can now say we met while in recovery, but we hated each other. I hated him!” Shepard recalled. “I thought he was a bit of a bully. And during one of our meetings, he threatened a younger member of the group. And it had been smoldering for a long time, so I said, ‘Let’s go. Outside. Now.’ It was on. And we went outside and got into a fist fight in the driveway of the AA meeting.”
Despite their disagreements, Shepherd said they continued to attend the same meetings and eventually came to understand each other better.
“God bless both of us,” Shepherd said. “We kept coming to the same meetings. Over the next two years, I found myself starting to have some kind of empathy for him. I listened to him.”
“His father shot himself in his home when he was young,” Shepherd said. “And his mother came upstairs and said, ‘If you promise not to cry, I’ll tell you what happened.'” So that little boy held on to it. And that little boy grew up without a father, just like I grew up without a father, and he was so seeking validation of masculinity, and it took on all the forms that I hated. I think he must have hated me. ”
He continued, “Once he had his stock, I remember saying, ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this is one of my favorite stocks I’ve ever heard of.'” Maybe a week or two later, in one of his stocks, he said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this is one of my favorite stocks I’ve ever heard of.” “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’ve fallen in love with Dax.” And we became friends. ”
Shepherd then began visiting Dane at his home, where they talked about their difficult upbringings.
“I fell in love with a very scary man who was trying and wanting to be the man he was, and I identified with that,” Shepard said. “I ended up loving him very much.”
