The Real Life Diet of William H. Macy, Who Runs the Stairs of His Hollywood Hills Home for Exercise

William H. Macy is one of the more revered character actors of his time—whether he comes to mind as a dopey Minnesota car dealer in Fargo or busting out of the small screen as a deadbeat dad on Shameless, Macy embodies his onscreen characters in a way that’s as memorable as he is.

Macy, who turns 75 on March 13, primarily calls Roaring Fork Valley, Colorado, home. He and his wife, actor Felicity Huffman, purchased the house that she grew up in, which is situated next to Woody Creek Distillers. This proximity led to Macy becoming a partner and “spokesdude” for the distillery.

Macy told us via Zoom all about the trainer whom he and Huffman have been working with for more than two decades, speed-sledding down Colorado mountains, and why he quit oat milk.

GQ: How are you today?

William H. Macy: I’m in Woody Creek right now, and things are going well. I’ll probably go to the distillery. There’s a bar there. I do hope you can come by someday if you find yourself in the Roaring Fork Valley. It’s a lovely little bar that’s attached to the distillery, and I go there and I play ukulele songs about Woody Creek and alcohol, and sometimes birthdays.

How does one book you for a birthday?

Well, you don’t. I wrote songs for my wife and two daughters for a couple of years, and so every once in a while, I throw one of those birthday songs into the mix. I’ve been doing backing tracks so it’s got a pretty good sound to it.

Is there video footage of this?

You can go to our website, go to the Woody Creek website, and they’ll hook you up with me. I’ve got things on SoundCloud, but I haven’t added to it in a while. I’ve got two new songs, too, but there’s a bunch of songs on SoundCloud.

What made you want to get into the whiskey business?

That way [gestures outside] is Mark Kleckner, one of the owners. I can’t see his house because there’s leaves on the trees, but on a good day I could almost hit a baseball that far. And the next house up is Pat and Mary Scanlan—they’re the other two homeowners—so we all live in Woody Creek. And you know, this place is sort of lousy with celebrities, but I guess everyone was busy, and they came by one day about six years ago and said, “Do you want to be the spokesdude?” I said, “Yes, I really do.”

What spurred it was I looked out the back there, and there were all these potatoes growing, and they’re beautiful. I don’t know if you’ve seen potatoes when they go into bloom—it’s a beautiful white flower, and it was magnificent. I asked my brother-in-law, Moore Huffman, what’s with that? He said, well, Woody Creek uses one of our fields to grow potatoes for their vodka and we’ve been doing that for a couple of years. When Mark came down and talked to me, he brought me a bottle of vodka that had come just from that field. I wish I’d saved it, but I drank it.

This sounds like a tale of the Old West.

It’s true. We all live here. We all know each other. Everything in a bottle of Woody Creek spirits comes from Colorado. With the exception of the gin, there’s some botanicals that are kind of rare, but it’s all from Colorado. Some of the greens travel less than three or four miles before they’re in the bottle in our warehouse.

What’s your favorite of your spirits you guys make?

I’m a big fan of Mary’s gin. It’s a blue gin, and it’s a potato-based gin, and it’s got a delicious taste. I went to Africa riding horses a couple years ago, and I got hooked on gin and tonics. I just love them, and Mary’s gin makes a fabulous gin and tonic, but it’s also great on the rocks with just a little squeeze of lemon.

My other great passion is the rye whiskey. I put out a signature bottle. It’s got a special package. The mash bill was 80% rye and 20% malt, and I chose it in a blind barrel tasting. We tasted eight barrels, and that was my favorite and so we put it out. It’s sold out pretty quickly, but you can still find this in places.

And tell me a little about your wellness routine—I imagine it’s pretty packed with outdoors activities given your location in Colorado?

I’m a skier. I’m a hiker. I’ve had the same trainer for 22 years. Her name is Kristen Hultreen, and she’s a genius. She’s been training Felicity and me for 23 years? Something like that, and it’s weight training.