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Kelsey Grammer opened up about his love-hate relationship with Los Angeles.
During an interview with Fox News Digital, the 70-year-old “Turbulence” actor, who has lived in LA since the early 1980s, recalled the moment that he knew the LA life was not for him.
“The minute I got here,” Grammer said with a laugh.
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“But I’ve been here for 40 years,” he continued. “Like it’s an unlikely sort of love affair I have with this town. I’m not crazy about it.”
“But I also love it,” Grammer explained. “So I’m doing my best to kind of lift my heart to take each day as the gift it is. So what, LA’s a little challenging. Well, it’s like we got nincompoops running things. It’s life, it’s the way it is.”
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“And I’m hoping that we find our corner in Los Angeles so we can keep our little garden, you know, growing and pristine. And we certainly have a family that sort of reflects that. I’m happy.”
Grammer was born in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, but he was raised mainly in New Jersey and Florida. He launched his acting career in New York before moving to LA permanently after he was cast in his star-making role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane in the hit sitcom “Cheers.”
The “Frasier” star has previously been outspoken about his criticism of the leadership in Los Angeles and California. Following the devastating LA fires in January, Grammer told Fox News Digital that he was seeing a shift in Los Angeles politics, stemming from what he believed was mismanagement of fire prevention by state and local governments.
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“I’ve always been a little bit on the more conservative side of things politically around here, so that shift seems to be unfolding because of … I guess you’d call it malfeasance in office,” the actor said.
“I mean, I don’t really know what else to say, but somebody took their eye off the ball, and there’s probably going to be some accountability for that. But you never know in California,” he added.
At the time, Grammer said that he had “a house full of refugees” from the fires, which broke out in early January and destroyed large parts of the Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas.
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“I am devastated by the loss, the human loss, the loss of life,” he said. “When you lose everything you have, and that’s happened to me a couple of times in my lifetime, it’s just [like], OK, that’s [when] you pick up, and you figure out what’s going to happen next, one foot in front of the other. That’s how it has to be.”
While Grammer noted that there were “a lot of people around who want to support” those affected by the fires, he understood why some who had lost their homes might decide to leave LA behind.
“For many, they’re going to want to find a new way to live, a new way forward, a new place to live. But I know a lot of people want to stay, and I wish them well with it. And I’m certainly going to do everything I can to help,” Grammer said.
Grammer is currently starring in the new survival thriller “Turbulence” in which he plays Harry, a hot-air balloon operator. The movie’s official plot synopsis reads, “Zach and Emmy’s romantic retreat aboard a hot-air balloon takes a terrifying turn when they are hijacked by a sinister third passenger with a link to Zach’s past. As the mystery of their secret relationship is revealed, their spectacular ride becomes a brutal mental chess-match and a lethal battle high in the sky.”
“Turbulence” also stars Hera Hilmar, Jeremy Irvine and Olga Kurylenko.
While speaking with Fox News Digital, Grammer explained what drew him to the role.
“My initial reaction was basically, I think I figured I could do it,” he said. “That’s what I usually would do. And have I done it before? Well, not exactly. I mean, oddly enough, he’s a little like Captain Tom Dodge was in ‘Down Periscope’ [Grammer’s 1996 comedy]. Because he’s a guy that’s running a boat, basically.”
“He knows how to sail, he understands the wind, understands the relationship between the environment and where he is in his vessel,” Grammer continued. “He’s a good skipper. So I mean, I thought, yeah, I’ve done that before, but it doesn’t go as he hopes it’s gonna go that day, which is really interesting. And he’s a terrific character, avuncular and friendly, and you feel safe around him. And that was something I haven’t played a lot. So it was fun to do.”
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“Turbulence” will be released in theaters and on digital platforms on Dec. 12.
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