The 2025 LA wildfires left thousands of Angelenos displaced including NCIS alum and TV producer Eric Christian Olsen, who has bravely opened up on the “need” for money.
The father-of-thtree spoke to HELLO! about his circumstances at the Paley Fest 2025 LA event celebrating his hit CBS series Matlock, for which he executive produces.
He shared how although he has been “very clear about keeping that divide between producing and acting” he has considered making an appearance on the series that stars Kathy Bates.
“You never know, my house just burned down and I need the money, so I may have to go back to acting!” he quipped.
Eric, who is married to wife Sarah and has three children, with a fourth on the way, told HELLO! that their family are “doing okay”, two months after the devastating fires tore through their neighborhood of Pacific Palisades.
“We were living with my brother for a while, and some friends in Santa Barbara, and now we’ve found a new place and we’re doing good,” he said.
Sarah shared snaps of her family after the tragic fires
Sarah offered fans an update in a raw Instagram post at the time, revealing that while they were safe, the fire took with it a home filled with precious memories.
“It’s impossible to put into words these last few days. We are together and safe and surrounded by love,” she wrote. “We lost our home. It was one of the first areas to go. Our kids have said ‘we all took our first steps there.'”
“It’s so hard to say goodbye to our gorgeous town, our special school and this place we have loved for 13 years,” Sarah continued. “But we are so so grateful we are together and for the outpouring of love.”
He is now executive producing Matlock, and he told HELLO! that it was his grandparents’ love for the original series that inspired him to get involved.
“I used to watch Matlock when I was a kid, with my grandparents, and I described it as Werther’s television, it’s feel good television where it’s just a person in search of the truth,” he shared.
“So when I found that piece of IP I said, ‘This is the show I want to make,’ and there was another producer that was trying to make it, like, ‘the granddaughter of Matlock,’ and I said, ‘No, it’s got to be a 70-year-old woman,’ because Matlock’s superpower was that he was perpetually underestimated and yet he was always the smartest person in.
