The Real-Life Diet of Lee Pace, Who Loves to Sleep for 12 Hours

I wake up, have a good breakfast, hit the gym hard, get a good lunch, take a nap, and then in the afternoon, do something kind of physical, go for a long run or a walk or something. But then, early to bed.

How many hours of sleep do you usually get?

Oh, it depends. I like a lot of sleep. I think sleep is the nicest thing. It’s the best. I would say, one of my favorite things to do is sleep. I love a nap. I like to get to bed early and wake up early.

I go to bed lately at about 10 o’clock, and I wake up at about seven. Nine hours. But every once in a while, you get that really big sleep, right? You luck into, Oh, I’m going to go to bed. It’s only 8:30, but who cares? And you wake up at like nine. To sleep that long, that’s the best. I mean, if I was doing it really right, I would just sleep a lot more. We should all sleep a lot more. It makes you sane to sleep.

Do you believe in cheat meals?

Well, no, not really cheat meals. I don’t want any of it to be too rigorous or feel like a job because this isn’t hard, really. It’s challenging, but I think there’s a real difference between “challenging” and “hard.” I do it because I choose to do it. So if I am aware of what I’m trying to achieve, I’m needing to achieve those things. And if I want to eat something else, I just eat it. I don’t think about it as a cheat.

It’s all fine. If you’re not in the mood to work out that day, then that’s fine. It’s okay. You don’t have to be a psycho about it to have good discipline. If you want to eat a big pasta, do it. There’s a reason you want it, why wouldn’t you just do it? There’s no extra points for making yourself miserable.

You don’t actually get a better body because it hurt or it kept you up all night with worry about how much weight you’re pushing or how much you’re not eating. Your life should be enjoyable, and certainly your fitness should be enjoyable.

Lee, I find the idea of solving the problem of succession in the series through a dynasty of clones really fascinating, especially thinking about how we live in a time when there’s this obsession over longevity and health. I know you’re in your mid 40s now, so I was curious, how do you see this whole business of longevity? What’s your relationship to your own physical longevity?

Well, everyone wants to live longer. Everyone wants to be healthy longer and get as much time with the people they love, and to have a functioning body that works for a long time. So it’s pretty simple, but I also think the solves to that are obvious, right? Be less stressed. You eat healthy. Longevity doesn’t mean being young forever—I mean, that’ll make me crazy. Why would you even want to be young forever? There’s actually no greater luxury than growing old, right? There’s no greater luxury than that—maybe sleep is a close second.