Willem Dafoe has revealed that he turned into a “gentleman farmer” during the Hollywood actors’ strike.

The star had no work for almost four months last year when the SAG-AFTRA actors union staged a walkout over pay and conditions and Dafoe has revealed he used his downtime to focus on farming—tending to the animals at his estate in Italy and growing vegetables. “I love to work and it was longer than I like to go. Basically, I was a gentleman farmer. [I have] lots of animals [and a vegetable garden]. I do it just for the pleasure of their company.”