Dax Shepard Almost Fought Eric Dane Before Friendship

Dax Shepard said he 'hated' the late actor  when they first met before they later developed a close friendship.

The 51-year-old podcast host even recalled how he almost got into a 'fist fight' with the  actor when they attended the same AA meetings in the past.

Shepard added that they later grew close and he 'ended up loving him so much' prior to Dane's death in February at age 53 after battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). 

'Eric Dane, I can now say I met in recovery and we hated each other,' he recalled in an interview with CNN's at the Book Festival on Thursday, April 2. 'I hated him!'

Shepard said he 'thought [Dane] was a bit of a bully' initially but explained they ended up bonding over not having their respective fathers around in their lives.

About the genesis of his friendship with Dane, he said: 'We were in a meeting [and] he threatened a younger member of the group, and this had been simmering for a long time, and I said, "Let's go. Outside. Right now."

'It was on. And we walked outside to a fist fight in the driveway of an AA meeting,' he recalled before explaining that other people ended up breaking up the fight. 

Over time, Shepard said he started to understand him as he learned more about Dane while sharing stories in AA meetings.