Most people know Simon Rex from his film and television work, but these days the actor is making headlines for a very different kind of production — building and living in a shipping container home completely off the grid. Rex has stepped away from the Hollywood lifestyle and embraced a simpler, more self-sufficient way of living that a lot of us in the homesteading community can genuinely respect.
Rex chose a repurposed intermodal shipping container as his primary structure — a smart move for anyone looking to build affordable, durable housing on rural land. Containers are built to withstand decades of harsh ocean weather, which makes them naturally resistant to wind, moisture, and pests. A standard 40-foot container gives you roughly 320 square feet of livable space, and two containers joined together can create a comfortable 640-square-foot layout without the cost of conventional framing.
Going off-grid means Rex had to think carefully about power, water, and waste. Most container homesteaders in his situation pair a rooftop solar array with a battery bank — typically lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) cells for their longevity and safety — to handle daily electrical loads. A small propane or wood-burning backup can cover heating and cooking when sun hours are limited. For water, rainwater catchment systems combined with a quality filtration setup are a popular choice, especially on rural parcels not served by municipal lines.
What Rex's story really highlights is that off-grid living isn't just a survival strategy — it's a deliberate lifestyle choice that's gaining real traction with people who are done paying for overhead they don't need. Container builds can be completed for a fraction of traditional construction costs, and their modular nature means you can expand as your needs grow.
Whether you're a fan of his movies or not, Rex is proving that trading a luxury zip code for land, self-reliance, and a smaller footprint isn't a step down. For a growing number of folks, it's the upgrade they've been waiting for.