Lukas Gage
Episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard · July 6, 2026 · 2 h 10 min
Actor Lukas Gage tells Dax Shepard and Monica Padman about surviving a hate crime, a wilderness program, his Kardashians wedding, and his borderline personality disorder diagnosis.
Summary
Actor Lukas Gage joined Dax Shepard and Monica Padman to discuss his memoir I Wrote This for Attention. The conversation opened with the hosts and Gage recounting the chaotic Austin premiere Q&A for Road House, where Conor McGregor dominated the stage; Gage said McGregor fractured a disc in his back during filming and credited Jake Gyllenhaal with advising him to treat every take like a rehearsal. Gage then described growing up in Encinitas with three older brothers, a mother who had been in legal trouble, and a brilliant but absent doctor father, as well as being beaten by five young men at a San Diego party after defending a friend attacked for being gay.
Gage recounted middle-school bullying, easy access to drugs via Tijuana, his brother Corey's heroin use, and being taken in the night to a wilderness program, which he said only made him rebel harder. He and Shepard spoke about childhood sexual abuse and the guilt of feeling complicit. Gage discussed his slow realization that he was gay, a hidden relationship with a neighbor, industry pressure not to come out, being accused online of queerbaiting, and the viral Zoom audition in which a director mocked his apartment on a live mic, shortly before he was cast in The White Lotus.
Gage described a breakup-induced crisis on the set of Dead Boy Detectives, a stay at a treatment facility where he received a borderline personality disorder diagnosis and was, in his view, overmedicated, and his whirlwind engagement to and televised Las Vegas wedding with Chris Appleton, arranged with Kim Kardashian and featuring Shania Twain. He criticized how the facility delivered the diagnosis but credited dialectical behavior therapy groups with teaching him to catch splitting and idealization. The interview closed with discussion of the Netflix rom-com Voicemails for Isabelle and his upcoming Prison Break series.
A rerun fact-check segment followed, in which Shepard phoned a friend about a Georgia radio-station jingle, Padman told a story about learning to ride a bike, relayed a message from Anna Kendrick, and reviewed statistics on state age demographics, life expectancy, and polygraph accuracy, ending with Shepard's improvised robot character.
Chapters
- 0:59
Barbecue awkwardness and the Road House Q&A
The hosts and Gage recall avoiding each other at a party and the chaotic Austin Road House premiere dominated by Conor McGregor.
- 12:21
The hate crime
Gage describes being beaten by five men at a San Diego party after defending a gay friend, and the attackers facing no consequences.
- 14:44
Family background
Gage outlines his mother's history, his three older brothers, and his genius doctor father who later left the family.
- 19:26
Bullying, drugs, and the wilderness camp
Gage recounts middle-school bullying, lunch trips to Tijuana, his brother's heroin use, and being kidnapped to a wilderness program.
- 26:28
Childhood abuse and shame
Gage and Shepard discuss childhood sexual abuse, feelings of complicity, and smiling through painful stories.
- 32:15
Sexuality, secrecy, and coming out
Gage describes his slow realization he was gay, a secret relationship, and Hollywood pressure to stay closeted.
- 40:33
Career, queerbaiting accusations, and the Zoom audition
Gage traces his career from American Vandal to Euphoria, online accusations of queerbaiting, and the viral hot-mic audition.
- 48:00
White Lotus, Fargo, and You
Gage discusses lessons from The White Lotus cast and Mike White and landing roles in Fargo and You.
Linked moment · 53:05Skip to 53:05 using a listen link in the info box.
53:05Breakdown, diagnosis, and the Kardashians wedding
Gage recounts a crisis on set, a facility stay and BPD diagnosis, and his whirlwind televised wedding featuring Shania Twain.
- 1:05:19
The memoir, BPD, and dialectical behavior therapy
Gage explains the book's origin, splitting and idealization, and how DBT groups helped him.
- 1:22:36
Voicemails for Isabelle and Prison Break
The hosts praise Gage's Netflix rom-com and he previews his role in the Prison Break revival.
- 1:27:22
Fact check: radio call, bike story, and statistics
The hosts phone a friend about a Georgia radio jingle, share personal stories, relay Anna Kendrick's message, and review state age, life-expectancy, and polygraph data before a robot bit.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Lukas Gage
Gage says Conor McGregor injured his back during filming and that he meant it as a compliment.
“I could say Conor McGregor like fractured my disc”
- Dax Shepard
Shepard relays a cast member's account that McGregor's bodyguard on set came to be seen as protecting the cast rather than McGregor.
“Oh, no, that guy's here to protect us”
- Lukas Gage
Gage recounts that Jake Gyllenhaal advised him to loosen his rigid preparation on set.
“treat every take like a rehearsal. Nothing matters. Everything's going to change. We're just rehearsing”
- Lukas Gage
Gage says five men beat him at a San Diego party, breaking his teeth, nose and orbital bones.
“five guys against me. I, like, broke my teeth, broke my nose, broke my orbitals”
- Lukas Gage
Gage says his attackers escaped consequences because their lawyers argued self-defense after he threw the first punch.
“And they got lawyers that said that technically it was self-defense”
- Lukas Gage
Gage says heroin was widespread in San Diego when he was young, with several classmates overdosing.
“Heroin was really popular in San Diego. Like by the time I graduated, about eight people in my class had overdosed”
- Lukas Gage
Gage says the wilderness program he was sent to made his behavior worse rather than better.
“I rebelled twice as hard when I came out. I fucking was even more of a nightmare. I didn't trust anybody”
- Dax Shepard
Shepard says an expert on child sexual abuse changed how he views his own abuse by an older minor.
“We had this expert who teaches at Johns Hopkins, and she's the head of this program that does nothing but study child sexual abuse”
- Lukas Gage
Gage says industry pressure, more than family, kept him closeted, warning he would only be cast in gay roles.
“a lot of it came from Hollywood and the industry of being like, do not come out because you're only going to play gay”
- Dax Shepard
Shepard argues that straight actors taking famous gay roles is unfair only because gay actors are denied straight roles.
“if you're not going to give them the fucking straight roles, you cannot take the gay roles”
- Lukas Gage
Gage says watching The White Lotus cast taught him to abandon rigid plans and find fresh choices on the day.
“You're going to find something better on a day that's fresh. The camera loves that”
- Lukas Gage
Gage credits Armchair Expert with prompting him to attend Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous.
“I really will say that this show was what made me go to slaw”
- Lukas Gage
Gage says the memoir's title is its most dishonest part because he did not actually write it for attention.
“I think the most dishonest part of the book is the title of the book, really, because I didn't really write it for attention”
- Lukas Gage
Gage objects less to his BPD diagnosis than to how treatment facilities label and medicate vulnerable people.
“stamp them with a label and throw a bunch of drugs at them and that's it”
- Dax Shepard
Shepard argues that addiction, codependency and BPD share a common function of escaping one's own life.
“it's funny that we got all these labels for these conditions, but it's like, we're all trying to”
- Lukas Gage
Gage says DBT felt childish at first but he now uses its techniques in daily life.
“It just feels like elementary weird work of like checking in with your senses and holding ice cubes if you're upset”
- Lukas Gage
Gage says the time it takes him to recognize his BPD episodes has shrunk from months to seconds.
“it would take me a couple months to realize that I was being crazy. Then it went down to a week”
- Dax Shepard
Shepard argues that polygraphs detect nervousness rather than lies.
“I think what it detects is nervousness”
People
In the conversation
- Dax ShepardAmerican actor and host of Armchair Expert; this label carries his show open and his 'robot' voice bit
- Monica PadmanCo-host and fact-checker of Armchair Expert
- Lukas GageAmerican actor and author of the memoir I Wrote This for Attention
Discussed
- Conor McGregorIrish mixed martial artist and former UFC two-division champion
- Jake GyllenhaalAmerican actor who starred in Road House
- Doug LimanAmerican film director of Road House
- Mike WhiteCreator and showrunner of The White Lotus
- Kim KardashianReality star and businesswoman pursuing a law license
- Chris AppletonCelebrity hairstylist whom Gage married after a brief engagement
- Shania TwainCanadian country-pop singer who performed at Gage's wedding
- Sam LevinsonCreator of Euphoria
- Jennifer CoolidgeAmerican actress, White Lotus castmate
- Zoey DeutchAmerican actress starring in Voicemails for Isabelle
- Anna KendrickAmerican actress and previous Armchair Expert guest
- Gabor MatéPhysician and author on trauma cited by Bartlett
- Noah HawleyCreator of the TV series Fargo
- Julia FoxActress Gage cited as inspiration for openness about mental health
Topics
- I Wrote This for Attention
- Borderline personality disorder
- Dialectical behavior therapy
- Road House (2024 film)
- Troubled teen industry
- Homophobic hate crime
- Coming out in Hollywood
- The White Lotus
- The Kardashians
- Child abuse
- Codependency and love addiction
- Voicemails for Isabelle
- Polygraph
- Life expectancy in the United States by state
Related episodes
How do you stop performing in your marriage? Somatic Healing in Intimate Relationships with Natalie Vartanian & Glenn NielsenNotes from the Edge · Oct 1, 2026 · 50 min
Lisa Lacy talks with coaches Natalie Vartanian and Glenn Nielsen about inherited marriage roles, somatic awareness, relationship agreements, and keeping romance alive.
From the publisher
Lukas Gage (I Wrote This For Attention, Voicemails for Isabelle, and The White Lotus) is an actor and author. Lukas joins Armchair Expert to discuss growing up in a chaotic family in San Diego, surviving a brutal hate crime as a teenager, and being sent to a troubled teen wilderness program. Lukas and Dax talk about navigating Hollywood as a closeted actor, the surreal experience of getting married on The Kardashians, and Conor McGregor fracturing a disc in his back while filming Road House. Lukas explains how a BPD diagnosis changed the way he understood himself, how shame and secrecy can distort identity, and what it means to stop performing for other people's approval. Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 29, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.