‘Home Alone’ Daniel Stern Says ‘Stepping Away’ From Hollywood Led To ‘Living My Real Life’ Creating Art On His Ranch (Exclusive)

Daniel Stern has dealt with his former Alone at home Wet Bandit identity for something much more appropriate to his life today: “Citrus Bandit.”

The actor-turned-author, sculptor, farmer, and philanthropist tells PEOPLE it’s “overwhelming” how much support he’s seen on both TikTok and Instagram as recently as fans have discovered he now lives a peaceful existence on his California ranch – bought with the money he saved from his time in Hollywood – growing tangerines and creating passion project art, which he describes as an “extension of the human condition. “

“What I love about social media is that you can tell your story,” Stern, 67, says of the recent influx of new and old fans to his pages, “and it feels good to tell it. And sort of the last step of any artistic creation is to give it to an audience. So it’s a wonderful world and I’m so glad that people have discovered some of my stuff through the TikTok thing.”

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Indeed, Stern has lived his “real life,” as he says, hiking, raising cattle, growing produce, and creating bronze sculptures, a far departure from rubbing elbows with Joe Pesci in Alone at homenarrative The Wonder Years and appears in newer series inclusive Shrill.

Despite the distance, both literal and figurative, from the Hollywood hinterland, Stern’s ranch and pottery studio make him feel like he’s working “on a film crew,” he says.

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“I’m fascinated by the cinematographer and the props department. It takes all these people. So I love living in all these different worlds. It’s the same in my sculpture world. I make these fun sculptures, but I’m dealing with a city and the city council that commissioned the play and I have to tell them their story And then I deal with the city engineer and then I deal with the foundry and the mold So I have all these other people in my life outside of show business, and I think it deepens my show business stuff because I’m living my real life,” he shares.

Stern’s decision to buy a ranch and begin to “step away” from the public eye was informed by a desire to disconnect from the “overwhelming” reality of being a big star.

Related: Cast of ‘Home Alone’: Where are they now?

“I made enough money that I didn’t have to work,” he says. “I made enough money and I’m kind of thrifty … I bought the house in cash. I bought the cars in cash. I bought everything straight up because as an artist I never knew if (I) would make more bread And I told my wife: ‘How much money do I need to run to the bank so that we can live off the interest and so that I don’t have to work?’ She said, ‘We hit it.’ It was like, ‘Okay, Dan, now you want to put your money where your mouth is’ … ‘What am I going to do with it?’ “Instead, he decided to go all the way to pursue his passion projects – and hasn’t looked back since.

Ultimately, Stern says “at this point … I love being in nature. I love being away. I love my solitude and I love being able to focus on what I’m doing. So the farming world is a great place for me .”

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