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Why Stars Are Trading Los Angeles for Real Life
Donovan grew up in Boston, giving him firsthand insight into what real city life can be. He watches friends struggle in Los Angeles while raising children and doesn’t sugarcoat the difficulty.
“I find it less challenging in Colorado, which plays to my talent level of raising kids,” he said. “If it’s not hard raising kids in Colorado, then that’s where I wanna be.”
He’s far from alone. Luke Grimes of Marshals moved to Montana. Ali Larter from Landman relocated her family to Idaho. Even Mark Wahlberg chose Nevada, explaining he wanted his children to grow up free to pursue their own dreams.
The message is clear: Los Angeles may generate wealth, but it’s one of the worst places to raise children. Those living there know it firsthand, no matter how much the elite preach from the coasts.
Colorado, Donovan insists, offers a hidden gem of quality living. “Colorado, secretly, is the sunshine state,” he said. “It’s a beautiful part of the country that gets more sunshine than maybe even Arizona and New Mexico. It’s incredible. So that’s why we’re there. And it’s really healthy living.”
He and his wife Michelle married in a small Santa Barbara ceremony in August 2012. They now have three children—Claire, Lucas, and Ethan—and reside in Denver.
Playing Abraham: A Hollywood First
Donovan didn’t just walk away from Hollywood—he returned to prime-time storytelling to portray one of the Bible’s most iconic figures.
The Faithful: Women of the Bible premiered on March 22 and concluded Easter Sunday, April 5, offering six hours of Genesis-themed drama through the lens of its central women: Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel. Donovan played Abraham alongside Minnie Driver’s Sarah, filmed on location in Rome and Matera, Italy.
The role pushed him to his limits. “There’s a part in the first hour where I actually talk with God and Minnie is playing Sarah and I, to be honest, I was lost,” Donovan said. “I felt the enormity, the pressure of how do I convey that I literally am talking to God to an audience that wants to talk to God or has talked to God, or wants to believe there is a God.”
Driver’s intervention was a turning point. “She physically grabbed me and told me I was enough,” he recalled. That moment remains one of the most powerful in his career.
Fox Bets on Faith—and Wins
For years, Hollywood claimed faith-based content couldn’t thrive on mainstream TV: too niche, too controversial, too risky. Fox ignored that advice, dedicating prime-time slots across three consecutive Sundays during the most sacred period in Christianity.
They cast a man who left the Hollywood grind to focus on family—a person who understands the gravity and meaning of the story he portrays.
“Marriage is complicated,” Donovan reflected. “It’s challenging, and if you and your partner can come to some sort of agreement that we are in it for the long haul, that our children are even more important than you, and you put all your eggs into that basket – I think your children and your family will end up all right.”
Abraham spoke similar truths thousands of years ago. Meanwhile, Hollywood is still wondering why audiences are walking away from their content.
