‘Veronica Mars’ star explains decision to ditch Hollywood for farming
“Veronica Mars” alum Jason Dohring has traded Hollywood for a hoe.
“About three and a half [or] four years ago, I guess, like, [in the] COVID area, I got into gardening, and I was like, ‘Dude, this is so cool,’” Dohring, 44, shared on Thursday’s episode of the “Don’t Do Nothing” podcast.
“I didn’t even notice COVID for months ‘cause I was in my backyard, just gardening and stuff like that. It wasn’t, like, a huge thing, but then I just got [a bigger] interest in it.”
Since the lockdown, Dohring has built three farms and is proud of their output.
“We’re just making great food for people ‘cause I really realized that people are getting sick from the food that they’re eating,” he explained.
“I just really wanted to change that and the flavor of food can be so amazing and there’s an art that you can create too, like with the way your farms are built and stuff. I told my agents, ‘I’m just going to go farm for a minute.’ They said, ‘Well, we’re still going to send you stuff.’ I said, ‘OK, fine.’”
Despite his horticultural hankering, Dohring hasn’t completely given up on acting.
“I got a call to do somebody’s little short film a little while ago, and I went and did that as a favor to them [and I enjoyed] that,” he said. “I love art, and when I get around art, even talking about this is exciting to me. … It’s really amazing.”
“I think there’s something in everybody that is aesthetic, meaning beautiful, or wants to create. I think that, obviously, because when they see that, they feel it, so there’s something in them that resonates with that, you know. I just love it.”
Dohring played Logan Echolls, a love interest to the titular character on “Veronica Mars”, which ran from 2004 to 2007. The cast reunited for a 2014 movie and a 2019 Hulu revival series. The CW series starred Kristen Bell as Mars.
Dohring went on to appear in other series like “Moonlight,” Ringer” and “The Originals.”
He is a committed Scientologist who credited the controversial religion for his success.
“The misconceptions that occur with people who haven’t ever read a book about [Scientology], or don’t know what it’s about. They’re just taking someone else’s false opinion of what it is,” he said in a 2008 interview.
“Just for me, it saved my acting career. I became a professional through Scientology… I understand acting better because Scientology is the study of life.”
He currently lives with his wife and four children in Clearwater, Florida, where the Scientology headquarters are located.
