It may seem like celebrities are an open book, but they have their secrets just like the rest of us — which is why it’s so awesome when you stumble across a real hidden talent of theirs. I’m not talking about actors who can sing — they’re a dime a dozen — I’m talking about quirky hobbies. These stars really like to play the sax, knit, juggle, and swallow fire.
Bob Barker
We’ve all seen Bob Barker in the heat of combat, but he apparently possesses more than grandpa strength and a killer cross. Barker is also a black belt who can bust yo stuff up karate-style. His teacher? None other than Sidekicks star Chuck Norris, who trained the now 91-year-old former host of The Price is Right and scourge to free-hanging dogs everywhere. Norris even handled the paperwork when it came to register Barker’s wrinkled hands as lethal weapons. Just kidding… Barker’s hands remain unregistered. Which makes him even more dangerous.
Pierce Brosnan
There aren’t a lot of things that are more impressive than playing James Bond, but Pierce Brosnan’s experience as a fire-eater is pretty close. Sadly, this Brosnan fire-eating story isn’t all happy, and it’s because of the Muppets and his actions in the above GIF.
Apparently, Brosnan pridefully rejected the preferred fire-spitting fuel (not the technical name) from the Muppets prop guy (Scooter, I guess?) and went with his own variety, causing a few blisters in his mouth and a vow to no longer DO SOMETHING ONLY DRAGONS SHOULD DO!
Jennifer Garner
Before Alias, Jennifer Garner and her very Rachel haircut co-starred with Jennifer Love Hewitt in a Party of Five spin-off called Time of Your Life, and in a group interview with Donny and Marie Osmond, Garner did indeed have the time of her life. Raised an Osmonds super-fan, Garner absolutely nerds out and accedes to Osmond’s request she play the saxophone on the air for the first time since high school. And she plays it well, thanks to Donny, who is beside her the whole time. The ’90s were weird.
Kristen Stewart
Much in the same way that Bella juggled Jacob and Edward, actress Kristen Stewart is adept at juggling balls in the air, re-teaching herself because Robert Pattinson compelled her to for a bit that they didn’t even wind up doing at the MTV Movie Awards. Is that why the alleged relationship fell apart? We may never know. Show folk, they are a mystery.
Amanda Seyfried
Seyfried’s special skill is the most mundane and useful, so long as she isn’t applying for work at the circus (K-Stew, Brosnan) or as a bodyguard (Barker, and maybe Brosnan). She knits. A lot. As shown in this clip from Ellen (whose special talent is dancing and being swell), the Mean Girls and Red Riding Hood star admitted she spends up to three hours (not at once) knitting hats for her co-workers while on the elliptical machine and listening to books on tape. I’m winded just from typing that sentence. Anyway, good for Seyfried. It’s always good to have something to fall back on, so long as it isn’t karate-chopping Formica, spitting fire, playing a mean sax and juggling.
(Via Contact Music and YouTube)