See Josh Duhamel Have Way Too Much Fun on His Latest Job

Is Josh Duhamel working hard here… or hardly working? It’s certainly difficult to tell from these exclusive behind-the-scenes pics of his photo shoot for Sharper Image. And, when we spoke to the new face of brand’s holiday campaign, he wasn’t having an easy time finding that line either.

“The kid in me came out and I got to play with drones and remote control cars and those Hover Board things. It was just like one big day of play,” the 42-year-old star told Yahoo Celebrity. “It was just one of the most fun times I’ve ever had at a photo shoot. Usually I dread those, but this one, because of all the toys I got to play with, it just felt like a walk in the park.”

We’re hoping our questions about toys and gifting right, too, were a walk in the park for the Lost in the Sun actor.

Had you ever flown a drone before?
This was the first time and I almost took out several crew members. Luckily, they make these pretty kid-safe so they’re not going to injure anyone if they do hit somebody, at least that’s what they tell us. “

Did you fall off the Hover Board at all?
It took me a little bit to get it right but I sort of mastered it by the end. And then, about two weeks later, I tweaked my back doing something and I tried to get on it again, and I ran my toe right into the wall. But I had it out today to show my niece and nephew — everything was good.

Were there any toys or games you played with that you’re looking forward to sharing with Axl [Duhamel’s 2-year-old son with wife Fergie]?
As a matter of fact, they gave me a bunch of stuff after the shoot that I don’t want to give him all at once. A couple of the things are too old, but there’s a remote control car that they gave me to give to him that I’m saving because he’s going to flip out when he sees that. And the drone. I think it’s a little early to give him the drone too, but that remote control car has his name written all over it.

Is Axl really into cars?
He’s very into trucks and anything car or truck-related right now. His favorite right now is the backhoe. He’s really into backhoes. Because they have the front-end loaders and they also have the hoe in the back.

What’s your approach to holiday gifting?
Generally, people want things that are fun. It’s nice to get things that are practical, but if you’re going to get stuff for Christmas, it’s nice to get stuff that’s new and cool and fun.

What was one of your favorite gifts you received as a kid?
For whatever reason, I remember my Uncle Danny, my dad’s brother, giving me a rock polisher. I loved polished rocks and he gave me a rock polisher so I could go out and pick rocks from the gravel road outside of our house, put ‘em in this little thing — it looked like a cement mixer almost — and then they came out polished. I don’t remember if I asked for it, but I remember thinking it was the coolest gift. I must’ve been 6, 7, 8 years old. Something like that.

What’s the nicest gift you’ve ever received?
Probably the nicest, most generous gift I ever received was from my manager about eight years ago. After we finished Las Vegas, the TV show I was on for five years, we were at the wrap party and everybody was there. The showrunner got up and said farewell to everybody and how grateful he was for the great five years 'and oh, one more thing!’ And he turned around, and in the middle of this casino in the middle of Culver City that we built on a soundstage, was this bright yellow '69 Camaro that I drove for five years — it was my character’s car. He walks us all down there and on the driver’s seat was an envelope and in the envelope, it said, “You deserve it. Love, John.” He gave me a car! I’d never in my life been given something so nice. That still goes down as one of the most generous and thoughtful thing anybody’s ever given me. Of course I got choked up. I couldn’t believe it.

The theme of this campaign is "gifting right” — what does that mean to you?
Here’s a good example: My grandparents gifted me right, but they gifted my sister wrong. I got cash, and my sister got homemade underwear made by their next door neighbor. That’s a good example of gifting wrong. Don’t ever give homemade underwear from your elderly neighbor.

What was the most fun moment to shoot?
It was pretty wacky. I got to go work for a company that makes stuff that I grew up with. I loved Sharper Image as a kid and I loved all the gadgets and all the cool stuff that nobody else had when I was a kid. … Back then, they were in malls. It was like the store in the Dakota Square Mall in Minot, North Dakota, and I just remember going in there and it being the place that had the newest stuff, like synthesizers and stuff like that.

Josh Duhamel’s latest film, This Is Your Death, arrives in theaters this Friday. His next project, TV mini-series 11.22.63 premieres in February on Hulu.

All photos courtesy of Sharper Image