Nick Loeb’s known as the owner of Onion Crunch — and even better-known as Sofía Vergara’s ex. But the entrepreneur, who also dips his toes into politics, is playing a new role these days: actor.
“Precious Cargo,” out Friday, has him appearing alongside Hollywood heavyweight Bruce Willis. And while that’s just one of six films Loeb’s been involved with in the past year, he’s not giving up on snack foods: Acting is only a side gig.
“If you combine all the money I made in [those] six films, you won’t even meet the average income in the US,” Loeb, 40, tells The Post. “So I treat it more as a hobby.”
His first Hollywood gig was as a 22-year-old production assistant on “Primary Colors,” directed by Mike Nichols.
“I really wanted to be an actor,” says Loeb, whose Bronfman family relatives owned the Hollywood studio MCA, which would later become Universal Studios. “So I told Mike I wanted to get my SAG [Screen Actors Guild] card. One day he said, ‘OK, go over there and say a few lines.’ And they got me my SAG card.”
That movie about a presidential election may have been fiction, but Loeb’s involved in real-life politics, too.
A Republican with deep connections, Loeb says he’s heard that Gov. John Kasich has been asked to be a presidential rival’s running mate in exchange for Kasich’s delegates. “I can’t say who has asked him, and I can’t say who told me, but he’s been asked, and he’s turned it down.”
Loeb himself is thrilled to be sharing the screen with a childhood idol. “To actually be in a movie with the guy from ‘Die Hard’ is every kid’s dream,” he says, calling Willis a consummate actor: “Everything was done with ease and simplicity and no thought.”
Though he’s been in Hollywood a lot lately, Loeb’s home these days is Delray Beach, Fla. “It’s not the greatest place to be single,” he concedes. “I think the average age is 65 or 75.”
He still lives in the four-bedroom house he once shared with Vergara, but spends most of his time traveling. “Maybe when I get married I’ll spend more time there,” he says. “Now, it’s hard not being married and living in a family neighborhood.”
Loeb’s dream of having a happy family has also cooled his political ambitions, at least for the moment. “It’s very difficult to have a family and to get involved in politics,” he says. “It’s something either for a very young man, or a much older man. Donald’s children are grown. It’s OK for someone like Donald.”
For now, Loeb is single. He’s been dating since his breakup from the “Modern Family” star, but he won’t name names. “After having such a public relationship, I think it’s best to keep relationships as private as possible,” he says.
Nor does he have any update, he says, on the infamous case of the frozen embryos for which he’s sued Vergara. As the duo await a court date, Loeb says he’s learned a lesson from every relationship he’s been in.
“I am not gonna say what [those lessons] are because they may not put myself or the other people in the kindest of light,” says the snack-food king. “Read anything I’ve ever said. It’s nothing but nice.”