“MAS*H” star Alan Alda always tries to look on the bright side of things, even amid a global pandemic. The actor got candid about how he spent 2020.
Rewind to last year and not many had a lot to celebrate. The COVID-19 virus caused a national panic and led to many places shut down. The government encouraged people to stay at home and keep their distance from each other as possible.
Well, Alda continued to have fun even at a six feet distance at a time. In May 2020, the “MAS*H” star opened up to AARP about how he was staying positive. This was back during the height of the pandemic too. Of course, Alda’s positive demeanor made his friends give him some weird looks.
“I’m having a good time, under the circumstances,” Alda said. “The other day, we were walking 6 feet apart with friends in a secluded area and I said, ‘What’s the best thing that’s happened since this began?’ One friend looked at me with a kind of stupefied expression, like, What do you mean “best”? What’s good?“
Alda continued, discussing why he likes to stay positive even amid a bad situation.
“But I’ve found a lot of positive things. I’m very happy about some of the changes we’ve had to go through,” Alda continued. “For one thing, my wife, Arlene [the author of 19 books], is looking for ways to be creative during this time. So, she’s gone back to painting and drawing, and she plays the piano every day, and she’s experimenting with cooking. She looks into a sometimes empty refrigerator and comes up with a delicious meal. I haven’t eaten this well since the last epidemic.”
‘M*A*S*H’ Star Alan Alda’s Outlook on Life
Of course, the “M*A*S*H” star has always been this way even before a global pandemic. Back in 2019, Alda discussed his views on life with The Guardian. At that time, Alda said he learned to accept reality for what it was than focused on some imagined fantasy. It’s helped him accept the uncertainty of the times.
“I love reality,” Alda said. “I’m more comfortable with the uncertainty of reality than I am with wishes and hope.”
But the “M*A*S*H” star also remains eternally optimistic.
“I am sort of optimistic, so that represents hope for me,” Alda said. “But reality is even more connected to hope than that because what is, is” – he slaps the table – “so why waste time wishing it away? I have a natural tendency to deny it so I can get on with things but that’s not the same thing as saying: ‘Oh, why me?’ If not me, somebody else. Why anybody? Nature is uncertain and, to a great extent, destructive. For Christ’s sake, we all die.”
