Of course, we know our favorite actors, musicians, etc. for the amazing art that they create for us to enjoy. However, a lot of these same celebrities have unreal (and sometimes very strange) hobbies and skills that we would never even think of. Skills that have even opened a path for an additional career for a lot of them.
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So, here are some celebrities who have some pretty awesome skills that don't involve the talent we know them for:
1. Margot Robbie — Tattoo Artist
First of all, tattoo artist Barbie is absolutely something I would love to see. In this case, I'll happily live in this fantasy land with Margot. While I wouldn't say she's a master at it (and neither would she), she definitely had a knack for getting people to let her do it! Back in 2016 , Margot told Jimmy Fallon on a Tonight Show appearance that she had done upwards of 50 tattoos at that point (and was only getting worse). What started as a tattoo gun for a birthday gift and tattooing her friends turned into her inking up the members of the Suicide Squad cast and crew!
Her tattoo artist career sadly came to an end back in 2020 when she attended a friend's wedding, tattooed the maid of honor's back (while drunk), and the maid of honor sported a red and scabbing tattoo in a backless dress for the ceremony. Needless to say, the maid of honor's mother was very, very unhappy, and Margot decided to hang up her tattoo gun. But she promised to bring it back out if Jimmy Fallon should want one.
Nbc / NBCU Photo Bank / NBCUniversal via Getty Images 2. Justin Bieber — Rubik's Cubes
All of my OG Beliebers know that nothing impressed us more back in the day than Biebs solving those Rubik's cubes. While Justin has been documented plenty of times solving the popular toy, who could forget the 2010 interview when he solved it in under two minutes?
Funnily enough, during a Carpool Karaoke with James Corden back in 2015, Justin was given a Rubik's cube by James to solve, which he did, all while James stared at him in total awe.
Nbc / NBCUniversal via Getty Images 3. Steve Martin — Banjo
Not only is he an incredible actor and one of the funniest guys around, but Steve Martin also has a deep love and major skill for music, specifically banjo playing. He picked up the banjo for the first time at 17 and taught himself how to play after loving the instrument since the '60s. He's been nominated and has won multiple Grammy awards for his banjo playing.
In 2010, he also created the Banjo Prize , a prize that awarded $50,000 a year to a master bluegrass or old-time banjo player. However, in 2019, after deciding that the prize needed a new infrastructure after fulfilling its original vision, they partnered with the FreshGrass Foundation to award $25,000 to one or more players. Clearly, banjo playing could've been an entire career of its own for him.
Scott Legato / Getty Images 4. Kaley Cuoco — Equestrian
Kaley Cuoco , who we know as an actor, is also an avid equestrian and has competed in many competitions over the years. She told Variety she owns about 25 horses, and she's one of Hollywood's biggest animal lovers. After a riding accident where a spooked horse threw her off and accidentally jumped on her leg in 2010, Cuoco was severely injured and needed to be rushed to a hospital. She even found herself signing papers for an "if needed" amputation before she headed into surgery.
Luckily, that didn't happen, and while doctors feared she wouldn't walk for months, she was back on her feet and out of the hospital in two weeks. Even such a horrible accident couldn't keep Kaley from riding; she still competes in competitions, houses plenty of horses, and even introduced her daughter to them.
Axelle / Getty Images 5. Mark Ruffalo — Unicycle
Nothing makes more sense than Mark Ruffalo being able to ride a unicycle . Apparently, it's something he learned how to do decades ago, simply because at one point he wanted to be a clown, so of course, he needed to learn how to unicycle. Back in 2014, Mark made an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, where Graham hilariously brought out a unicycle for Mark (who hadn't ridden a unicycle in 25 years) to try out. Graham even made Mark give it a go on a unicycle that was six feet tall, and he absolutely crushed it.
The following year, Mark revisited Graham's show with Meryl Streep and James McAvoy. James (who also knows how to ride a unicycle) and Mark ended up amazingly riding little unicycles all across the stage.
Ian West - Pa Images / PA Images via Getty Images 6. Angelina Jolie — Knife Collector, Handler, and Thrower
Angelina iconically played beloved archaeologist and video game icon Lara Croft in the game-to-film adaptation of Tomb Raider . Well, to make life imitate art even more, this woman has a nearly life-long knack for knives and historical weapons. She's always had an interest in weapons after going to the Renaissance Faire as a little girl, and she has even collected them since then.
Back in 1998, she appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, where she demonstrated some crafty hand skills with a butterfly knife. Not only is she a collector and skilled handler, she also knows how to throw knives (which she eventually showcased in Mr. and Mrs. Smith ) and performed most of her own stunts in the Tomb Raider movies, which absolutely included throwing knives.
Samir Hussein / Samir Hussein / WireImage 7. Susan Sarandon — Ping Pong
Susan Sarandon has been a longtime advocate for and fan of ping pong. In 2009, she (along with some business partners) opened the very first SPiN (a ping pong club) in New York City after she attended one of her business partners's ping pong parties. Susan reportedly loved the diversity — the fact that women could win against men and children could win against adults was something she really enjoyed, and she was intrigued by the parties.
Since then, Susan has played a ping pong champion on screen and has opened eight more SPiN locations around the United States, one of which includes a second NYC location that just opened in 2023. What's even more amazing is that she told the Guardian this about her ping pong skills: “I’m not a competitive person, so I’m not one of those people who gets hooked on something and plays it constantly... So I’m just not very good." So, instead of playing, she just pours money into it because she likes the vibes...iconic.
Andrew Toth via Getty Images 8. Nick Offerman — Woodworking
9. Christina Hendricks — Accordion
During an episode of the highly awarded series Mad Men , Christina Hendricks, who played Joan Harris, so preciously sang and played a rendition of "C'est magnifique!" on the accordion. Although her character may have had some questionable feelings about the act, Christina actually opted to play the accordion herself as a lover and player of the instrument. On multiple occasions , she's praised the accordion, saying things like, "It’s a very romantic instrument, I think. I love it."
Originally, before the filming of Season 3 of Mad Men, she was called by the writers and asked if she could speak French and play the piano. Her response was, "One, I'll learn, and two, not piano, but I do play a little accordion." Of course, they were in love with the idea, thus giving us the iconic scene and revealing just another dollish thing about Christina Hendricks.
Jerod Harris / Getty Images for Good Eggs 10. Jack White — Furniture Upholstery
11. Geena Davis — Archery
It all started when Geena was watching the US compete in archery at the 1996 Olympics, and she became totally enamored by it. She told People , “It’s very dramatic and beautiful, and I just thought casually, ‘I wonder if I’d be good at that?’” After learning the ins and outs of various sports over her acting career, she felt she wanted to take up a sport as herself and not as a character.
By 1997, she had found an archery coach and was practicing for five hours a day, six days a week. After just six months of training, she was already winning at the local, national, and international levels. Just two years later, she and 300 other women were battling for a spot on the 2000 Summer Olympics team. She placed 24th, which sadly left her just shy of qualifying. As of 2020, she hadn't competed lately but still picked up her bow and arrow for a bit of fun.
Rick Maiman via Getty Images 12. Pierce Brosnan — Fire Breathing
While a part of his theater company as a teenager, Pierce picked up fire breathing from people he met while traveling around with the company in London and was eventually performing the act for tourists. He was so good at it, they actually later trusted him to do it on multiple TV shows. During an interview, he was asked what the secret was to fire breathing, and he simply responded, "Balls."
Unfortunately , an appearance on Muppets Tonight in 1997 would mark the end of his fire-breathing days. He was performing the trick, and something very wrong occurred when he blew out the fire; it ended up blowing right back into his mouth. He's said that after the incident, he ended up with his mouth covered in blisters, a pain he concealed on the show in an unreal way, and it led him to give up the activity for good.
Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images 13. Kesha — Jewelry Making
Finally, we have one that's just extremely wild. Back in 2014, while Kesha was in a treatment center, she wanted some kind of outlet to be able to connect with her fans. Well, naturally, it was taken to a completely bizarre level. Kesha's friend took to her Twitter account to ask her fans to send MORE of their teeth to make art with at her treatment center. The out-of-pocket tweet cutely ended with, "She misses you. :)"
She received over 1,000 teeth and ended up turning them all into a bra top, a headdress, earrings, and a necklace. The treatment center eventually had to step in and put a stop to the overflow of teeth coming to their mailboxes.
Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images for Christian Siriano Any of your favorite celebrities have a bizarre or super impressive skill you wish was on this list? Let me know in the comments!
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