Tom Selleck is one of the most recognizable names and faces in the entertainment industry — and for several good reasons, too. For one generation of his fans, he’s best known for his role in the 1980s series “Magnum P.I.,” and for another, he’s Monica Gellar’s boyfriend on “Friends.” Thanks to his signature mustache and timeless look as television’s ultimate gentleman, even GQ admitted back in 2014 that Selleck is one Hollywood actor who belongs in the “Man’s Hall of Fame.”
And while he’s played plenty of roles over the years, Selleck did admit that the one that scared him the most was his role as Dr. Richard Burke on “Friends.” While on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” back in April, the actor admitted that he didn’t know what to expect coming into the hit NBC sitcom. He said, “I wasn’t amazing at what they call the table read. I had done ‘Taxi’ a long time before, but I hadn’t done a sitcom. And so, I was really nervous.”
Even with his illustrious career and his long-running role on CBS’ “Blue Bloods,” little do some of his fans know that Selleck actually has another job outside of the television world. In fact, it’s one that has nothing to do with his acting career at all.
Tom Selleck has an avocado farm
Tom Selleck might be known as an icon to some — with one heck of a net worth — but to those who know him personally, he’s just your average avocado farmer and enthusiast. That’s right: Selleck works on an avocado farm and, according to Good Housekeeping, it’s a job that he enjoys quite a bit, too.
He told the publication, “I live on a 63-acre avocado ranch. So I like to get outside and work on the farm, from fixing roads to clearing brush. I hate going to the gym, so sweating outdoors sure beats sitting on a stationary bike staring at my navel.” If that weren’t enough, Selleck also said that, unlike the hefty Hollywood paychecks that he gets on the regular, he is great at being an avocado farmer because he’s “cheaper than anyone I could hire to do it.”
And while some of Selleck’s fans might see this as an easy-going side job, there have been just as many pros to owning and working on an avocado farm as there are cons. You’d think that Selleck would be a huge fan of chips and guacamole or, say, a lean and mean avocado toast for breakfast, but apparently, that’s simply not the case.
But Tom Selleck isn’t a fan of avocados
Back in 2012, Tom Selleck admitted that while he loves working on an avocado farm, you won’t find him eating one during his break. He told People that the last thing he would want to eat is an actual avocado. He said, “Honestly, they make me gag. But it’s just as well. I’ll sell my portion.” What’s more, Selleck also dealt with a major drought that killed his avocado trees in 2021.
When asked what he does with his spare time now, he told Parade, “This will sound silly, but I’ve dug the holes myself for probably 1,000 California native oak trees. I have a whole family of oak trees — toddlers, teenagers and, after 20 years, adult trees. Watching them grow is not something you can do in five minutes in this crazy instant-gratification world, but it’s very gratifying.”
It’s almost a shame that the avocado farm isn’t what it used to be because there’s no doubt that Dr. Richard Burke would have had his ex-girlfriend Monica Gellar make an amazing avocado hummus with the spares, right?