Scott Foley. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Scott Foley has starred in some of TV’s best fictional dramas — but when it comes to his own entertainment, he and wife Marika Domińczyk are all about reality.
“Very little excites us more than a new season of [MTV’s] The Challenge!” Foley, 52, exclusively shares in Us Weekly’s latest What I’m Obsessed With series, on newsstands now. “We’ve been watching for 20 years and feel like we know each contestant, their fears and strengths and for us, it’s pure comfort.”
The Challenge, which premiered in 1998, is a reality competition show that started as a spinoff to two of MTV’s popular reality shows: The Real World and Road Rules. In the game, reality TV stars from both series compete in physical and mental challenges to win cash prizes. Since it premiered, The Challenge has become more successful, outlasting both of the original shows. There have been 40 seasons aired in addition to 12 spinoff seasons, and the show has filmed on six different continents.
While Foley enjoys snuggling up with his family and watching from his couch — he and Domińczyk share daughter Malina, 14, and sons Keller, 12, and Konra, 10 — he’s likely not preparing to sign up himself any time soon. But Foley’s own job takes him to plenty of exotic places, too. For his new film La Dolce Villa, the actor got to spend eight weeks in Italy — a huge selling point when it came to accepting the role.
“I read the script and was like, ‘Oh, there’s no way they’re gonna shoot this in Italy.’ And then, they said, ‘We’re gonna shoot it in Italy.’ And I thought, ‘Well, I kind of have to do it,’” Foley told Collider earlier this month. “It worked out really well. Italy, the country, and then these little towns we shot in, really was another character in this film, and it adds to the wanderlust of all this.”
The romantic comedy, which hit Netflix on February 13, stars Foley as Eric, a father who, after discovering that his daughter, Olivia (Maia Reficco), recently bought a crumbling Tuscan villa, rushes across the pond to try and talk her out of it. When he arrives, he realizes that there just might be beauty, romance and a new purpose waiting there for him as well.
“The relationships in this movie are really important,” Foley told Collider. “There’s the relationship with [his] daughter and overcoming the divide that has grown between us since the passing of my wife and her mom, and then being open to not just another love in another person, but really a whole new life for my character. To a certain degree, he’s leaving behind everything he had and starting anew. You’re getting to see the revitalization of this person and this character.”
Foley may prefer a little reality TV to unwind, but he still has Us pressing play on all his best leading man moments, from Felicity to Scandal, and now, to La Dolce Villa. Keep scrolling for a list of everything Foley is currently obsessing over right now:
‘Interstellar’
“I don’t know how I missed it when it initially came out but I’m obsessed,” the actor tells Us. “The idea that love can transcend basically anything really resonated with me. Everything from the concept to the acting to the production design is really stellar (see what I did there)!”
Foley noted that it’s Matthew McConaughey’s performance in particular that really makes the film memorable. “I also love a good heartbreak and watching McConaughey’s character [Cooper] choose to leave his family, choose to take on missions that extend the amount of time away from them … crushing.”
‘The Challenge’ and More Good TV
In addition to Foley’s Challenge obsession, he’s also a big fan of shows like Showtime’s The Agency an espionage thriller starring Michael Fassbender.
‘The God of the Woods’
When it comes to his reading list, Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods lands in the top spot — “I flew through it, absolutely loved it,” he says — but Foley has more than just one recommendation.
“Right before that I downloaded this new nonfiction piece by, of all people, John Grisham,” he tells Us. “I’ve been a fan since The Firm but this book Framed, co-authored by Jim McCloskey — who is the founder of Centurion Ministries, which was the first organization in the world devoted to freeing the wrongly convicted — this book and the stories that they tell about those imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit has really stuck with me.”
Zach Bryan
The Scandal alum knows he’s not alone when it comes to his music playlist. “I think I’m on the bus with this one … Zach Bryan seems to be a daily listen for me,” he confesses. “We sing his songs as a family in the car.”
He added that Bryan’s music also served an important role in a mournful family moment recently: “My wife even used his song ‘Pink Skies’ on an Instagram post she made when we had to put one of our dogs down last week. Hard not to cry whenever I listen to it now.”
The ‘Pivot’ Podcast
Foley, a self-proclaimed “big podcast consumer,” says he jumps back and forth “between industry news, politics and just fun listens.” Recently, however, there has been one show that he prefers most: “I’ve been learning into ‘Pivot,’” he said of the Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway-hosted podcast. “The cover topics I care about in a way that doesn’t make me feel like I’m in too deep.”
