The Reason Dax Shepard Turned Down A Major Role For Kristen Bell Left Him With Zero Regrets

The depth of Dax Shepard’s love for Kristen Bell knows no bounds. The love between these two is so strong that Shepard has even put his career on hold at times just for the woman he loves. Dax Shepard’s comments about turning down a major role for Kristen Bell show just how committed he’s always been to their relationship.

The 44-year-old actor recently opened up about how much his relationship with Bell has always meant to him, even from the start. In his podcast, The Armchair Expert, Shepard revealed that he actually turned down a hugely important acting gig to be with Bell. So, what was the gig? Parenthood. You know, that incredibly successful NBC show that ran for six seasons and starred TV legends Lauren Graham, Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia, and, well, Dax Shepard. Yeah, that one.

Shepard was so smitten with Bell that he just didn’t see how it would be possible for him to be in a relationship and star on the show at the same time.

"Kristen was the first person [that] a few years in, basically that choice was presented to me and I chose her which blew my mind," he revealed to his podcast guest, Chris D’Elia. "I got offered Parenthood. I hadn’t acted in a long time, no one was offering me anything and they said, ‘This show shoots in Philadelphia’ and I said, ‘There’s no way I can be in this relationship and move to Philadelphia.'"

So, what did Shepard do? The only thing he thought would preserve his relationship.

"I turned that show down, which, by the way, is certainly the first time in my life that I had ever done that. I couldn’t believe I was doing it," he said.

He turned it down in spite of the fact that he "very much wanted to be on that show.” Even though he was madly in love with Bell, some part of him liked the idea of a “weird, separate life in Philadelphia with some weird apartment where I was anonymous."

Obviously, Shepard had to make some hard decisions about the whole situation. Luckily, things worked out for him, because Parenthood ended up shooting in Los Angeles instead of Philadelphia. So, he got the gig and he got to stay with his future wife.

Back in February 2019, Shepard actually opened up to Entertainment Tonight about his first meeting with Bell and how he fibbed just a little bit to get her attention.

"I under promise, over deliver. So I’m a pretty bad scumbag, recovering addict, nice to meet you,” Shepard said of how he first introduced himself to Bell. "And it’s only gone up hill from there… She came to my house and she was like, ‘Oh, he has running water. I didn’t expect that. Oh, he cleans up his house, this is a nice surprise.’ Everything was a revelation."

Basically, he lowered expectations a lot in order to impress Bell, which is interesting. And it also seems like the most Dax Shepard thing ever, so it’s not surprising. Thankfully, Bell truly was impressed and decided to stick out the relationship. I mean, they’ve been together for over 12 years now and they’ve been married half that time. I think it’s safe to say that Shepard was right to trust his instincts in this situation. It seems like he knew that Bell was the one right away!