Dax Shepard

On Armchair Expert, his long-running podcast, Dax Shepard talks with movie stars, scientists and authors for hours at a time, and he talks about himself just as openly. Listeners know about his childhood, his marriage to Kristen Bell, his anthropology degree from UCLA and, above all, his addiction and recovery. In September 2020, sixteen years after he first got sober, he told his audience he had relapsed on opioids after a series of injuries, and described in detail how he had hidden it.

He was born on January 2, 1975, near Detroit, Michigan. On his own podcast he has mentioned being born a little before one in the morning, and the time used for his chart, 1:10 a.m., comes from that conversation. His Sun is in Capricorn, and Mars is in Sagittarius, both in the third house of talk, writing and everyday communication. Capricorn is disciplined and ambitious, and a third-house Sun with Mars beside it describes a person whose work and drive are channeled through conversation. It is a remarkably fitting signature for someone who became best known not for acting but for talking.

Libra is his rising sign, which gives an easygoing, charming manner, and Uranus in Scorpio sits in the first house, adding an unpredictable and slightly provocative edge. Shepard's on-screen persona has always combined likability with recklessness.

He grew up in suburban Detroit, raised largely by his mother after his parents divorced, and has spoken about difficult experiences in his childhood. After college he trained with the Groundlings improv troupe in Los Angeles, and in 2003 he became one of the faces of MTV's Punk'd with Ashton Kutcher. Film roles followed, including Without a Paddle and Idiocracy, and then a long stint as Crosby Braverman on the NBC drama Parenthood.

Mercury and Venus, both in Capricorn, sit in the fourth house, which governs home and family. Venus in Capricorn in the fourth describes loyalty and seriousness about building a stable home. He married Kristen Bell at the Beverly Hills courthouse in 2013, after they had waited until same-sex couples could legally marry in California, and they have two daughters. The couple have talked publicly about the work their marriage requires.

His Moon is in Virgo in the eleventh house of friends and community. A Virgo Moon analyzes its feelings, and in the eleventh it finds emotional grounding in friendships. Shepard's on-air partnership with his co-host, Monica Padman, is one of the closest friendships in podcasting.

Jupiter in Pisces occupies the fifth house, tied to play and creative risk, and Saturn, retrograde in Cancer, in the ninth house of learning. Armchair Expert, launched in 2018, grew into one of the most popular podcasts in the world. The Capricorn Sun in the house of conversation turned out to be his real career.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, in the United States the SAMHSA National Helpline is free, confidential and open at any hour at 1-800-662-4357.