Hollywood Stars Who Have Quirky and Pricey Hobbies

Pigeon racing is actually a pretty old sport, and it dates back hundreds of years. However, keeping pigeons and training them for things like delivering messages is much older, and people have always had a fondness for pigeons. Today, Mike Tyson is probably one of the most famous, if not the most famous person, to race pigeons. He's even said, “The first thing I ever loved in my life was a pigeon.”

Nicolas Cage was, at one point in time, one of the wealthiest people in Hollywood. Today, he's still pretty wealthy, but he's not as rich as he once was. A string of huge purchases, such as a private island (who can really blame him?), expensive real estate, and a nearly $300,000 T-rex skull. However, the skull eventually had to be returned when it became apparent that it had been stolen. 

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis does more than star in hit movies, it turns out that she also likes to invent things in her spare time. She has a patent for diapers that basically have pockets to store wipes. She has said that she had the idea for it after she got tired of having to go for the wipes every time she went to change her own baby's diaper. 

Okay, so Katy Perry doesn't just go around randomly collecting clumps of hair from strangers. But she does collect hair from celebrities, most of whom are her friends. She reportedly has locks of hair from people like Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift. She's also gone on the record as saying she knows just how weird her hobby sounds, but she doesn't really care because she thinks it's an awesome pastime. 

Motley Crue is probably one of the most hardcore, hard-living rock bands to ever do it. So, drummer Tommy Lee's relaxing hobby of taking care of and growing bonsai trees might come as a surprise to some. However, he regularly posts photos of himself taking care of trees on social media, and people seem to love it. Taking care of bonsai trees does seem like it'd be the most relaxing pastime ever. 

George Clooney has had a pretty varied career. Before he became a superstar, the native Kentuckian helped pick tobacco, worked in construction, and even sold women's shoes. The latter job seems to have stuck because Clooney is somewhat of a cobbler. In his spare time, he makes and repairs shoes. During a Reddit interview, he said, "Let me just tell you this. When Daniel Day-Lewis was spending all his time playing Lincoln, I was just fixing shoes."

There isn't much extra info for this one, but we do know via an interview in 2016, that the founder of Bad Boy Records, P. Diddy, enjoys collecting tea sets. During the interview, the iconic rapper mentioned his beloved hobby without giving too many other details. Among the other things that Diddy noted about himself in the article was that he enjoys eating applesauce with every meal, like every single one of them.

There's something magical and soothing about the click and clack of an old typewriter. So, we can see why actor Tom Hanks collects them. He reportedly has around 100 or more in his collection, and he's sometimes gifted new typewriters by friends and those looking to land an interview. In addition to his love of real-life typewriters, he also has his very own typewriter app that turns your phone's keyboard into a vintage typewriter. 

It's not uncommon for celebrities to develop a love for sports during their downtime, but it is uncommon for them to develop a love for segway polo. That's what Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak started playing in 2004, not long after segways were first introduced. He's such a big figure in the segway scene that the world championship segway polo trophy is named after him. It's called the Woz Cup, which is a pretty cool name for a championship trophy.

It's kind of hard to get a sense of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg from interviews and testimonies in front of Congress, but apparently, Zuckerberg enjoys spending time outdoors and even has his own farm. He says that it's sort of like his retreat and that he goes there when he needs some time away from the cameras. The farm has just about everything you'd imagine a farm might have, including cows, goats, and various crops. 

Collecting Barbies is actually a surprisingly common pastime, but we wouldn't have guessed that superstar actor Johnny Depp collects the iconic doll. Depp apparently started collecting not long after his own daughter began to play with the toys. And while he can certainly afford to collect as many as he wants, some Barbies, especially the older ones, can be quite expensive. Depp has never revealed how many Barbies he has at home.

Beekeeping is a pretty ancient pastime, but it's still enjoyed by plenty of people today, even those as famous as Beyonce. The superstar reportedly has some 80,000 bees around her home, and the hobby started out as a way to make honey for her children, who suffer from allergies. Considering fans of Beyonce are sometimes referred to as BeyHive, it's pretty fitting. She's able to harvest hundreds of jars a year, but it's unclear if she sells them or just stocks them in her home. 

When's the last time you've taken the time to shake and appreciate a really nice snow globe? We're betting it's been a while for most people. However, it probably hasn't been that long for billionaire superstar Taylor Swift. It turns out that Swift has made and posted about several snow globes she's made throughout the years. She's even released some snow globes as merchandise alongside new album releases, and as you might imagine, they're pretty sought after by "swifties."

While hunting frogs might sound really odd, it's actually quite common in some places. However, most people hunt frogs to eat them, Paris Hilton hunts frogs just for the fun of it. After capturing a frog, she eventually releases it. During an interview with The Daily Express, she said, “I’m actually a real tomboy. A lot of people only see me on the runway, or at parties, or on the red carpet. I’m usually at a pet store or at my ranch or a farm."

German supermodel Claudia Schiffer has a truly unique hobby. Schiffer enjoys collecting insects. She has giant butterflies, spiders, and a bunch of other insects in her collection, and she's even used her hobby to inspire a dinnerware collection she designed. Reportedly, her insect collection features on her walls, and various insects are elaborately arranged on tables throughout her home. She also has a pretty impressive collection of books on insects. 

Angelina Jolie has played everything from spies to assassins, so it actually kind of makes sense that she has a knife and dagger collection in her home. The actress apparently started buying knives when she was only around 11, and the hobby just sort of stuck. Of course, she's able to afford much more expensive blades these days and her collection has quite a few gems that were handmade and are one of a kind. 

At one point in time, Toys R Us was the ultimate place to be if you were a kid. It was extremely popular, so you know Robin Williams's love of toys must've been serious if he partnered with the retailer to donate toys and promote charity work. Williams himself enjoyed collecting older toys, pretty much of any kind, including board games and action figures. However, that isn't surprising considering his wacky performances and real-life energy. 

Fencing has long been a sport for the wealthy, so it shouldn't come as a shock when you hear that one of the most popular actors of all time, Will Smith, enjoys fencing. Still, there is something remote and romantic about fencing. Smith has said that he got involved with fencing after spending time with David Beckham and Tom Cruise, the latter of whom has a room devoted to fencing. 

Most people know Simon Cowell for his relentless criticisms, but it turns out that he's actually kind of a softy away from the cameras. Cowell's hobby is something that most of us have enjoyed doing at one point in our lives but eventually grew out of it. Cowell likes climbing trees, and he reportedly does it every single day as a way to spend time in nature and remind himself to stay grounded. 

Here's another pretty quirky hobby for you. Actress Penelope Cruz likes to collect coat hangers. Reportedly, she has around 500 different types. Firstly, we didn't even know there were so many different types of coat hangers, and secondly, there must be an entire world of coat hanger collecting that we've never even thought about exploring before. Apparently, the only type of coat hanger that Cruz doesn't collect, are wire coat hangers, and we can't say we blame her. 

While most states no longer require schools to teach cursive, it turns out there are practical reasons to learn the form anyway. For example, Meghan Markle, now a member of the British royal family, used her cursive and calligraphy skills to pay the bills when she was just getting going in acting. She has said that the amount of money she made turned out to be a bit of a surprise. 

This one shouldn't come as too much of a surprise since Drake is Canadian, and you're pretty much born knowing how to ice skate when you're Canadian. However, he's apparently really good at it. He even once took Rihanna on a date to an ice ring. At the time, the date made headlines in all of the entertainment tabloids, but the relationship didn't last. However, Drake still has his skating skills. 

While there are plenty of hobbies on this list that seem to fit with the celebrities who practice them, Matthew McConaughey playing the bongo drums has to take the cake. The two just seem to fit together so well. In 1999, the actor was even arrested for playing the bongo drum while naked. He no longer plays naked (at least, we don't think), but he does sometimes play at sporting events.

We're not sure if she still plays or not, but back in the day, Mila Kunis was reportedly obsessed with World of Warcraft. She said that it gave her the ability to be anonymous, and she was so into it that she had to force herself to take a break for a while (we've all been there). While it's unclear if she still plays, she does still play games, just maybe not to the same extent.

Legendary rocker Rod Stewart has found some solace in building and maintaining model trains. Like a couple of other hobbies on this list, building model trains seems like another ultra-relaxing pastime. It's also something that pretty much every little kid hopes to be able to do one day. Stewart's model train encompasses an entire city that he built from the ground up, along with the elaborate train and track system. 

Here's another really fitting hobby. Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino enjoys collecting board games that have TV or movie themes to them. Considering his love of pop culture and the way he works all of that into his films, this one isn't too unexpected, but it is really unique. Actor John Travolta told a story about being invited over to Tarantino's home to play once, "All he (Tarantino) wanted to do was spend the evening playing board games of my old movies," he said. 

Driver Fernando Alonso is a world-class Formula One driver who won the championship in 2005 and 2006. If you follow Formula One, then you know just how difficult it is to win the championship even once, much less twice. So, maybe it's not that surprising to some that Alonso's hobby is practicing magic. He certainly pulled off some magic when he took home the championship two seasons in a row. 

Riding a unicycle is a pretty unique skill to have and one you probably don't usually think of when you think of the wealthy. It's also something actress Leslie Mann can reportedly do pretty well. “I got a unicycle for Christmas when I was 10 and taught myself how to use it. Now I can do all kinds of tricks, like cycling backward and jumping off curbs,” she said during an interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show before. 

Birdwatching and birdcalling aren't usually things you associate with those in their 20s. However, model Kendall Jenner is reportedly really good at birdcalling. We aren't sure how or why she developed the talent, but she once posted a video to social media that showed her making birdcalls, and the similarity to an actual bird was uncanny. If she ever decided to take up birdwatching, then she's already have a leg up on most. 

Conan O’Brien is, in our opinion, one of the most underrated late-night hosts ever. He's incredibly funny, and as if that wasn't enough, he also knows how to tap dance. Not only does he know how to tap dance, but he once considered pursuing tap dancing professionally. Thankfully, he found his way into showbusiness, and the tap dancing comes in handy from time to time, although much less so now that he isn't on late night. 

No, we don't mean that Pierce Brosnan is really good at rap. Instead, he literally swallows and spits fire as a hobby. Before Brosnan was 007, he had a pretty varied performing career. That included a stint in the circus after taking a fire-eating course and learning how to breathe fire. Oh, and he also ran away from home and dropped out of school to pursue his dream of becoming an actor.

Lebron James and headbands used to be synonymous. However, in 2013, James began the season without his iconic headgear. James said that he wasn't going to wear them anymore, since nobody else on the team was wearing them, and he wanted to show solidarity with the rest of his teammates. It's not uncommon for athletes to have superstitious habits about always wearing the same clothing, so seeing this from Lebron was actually kind of unusual. 

This one is sort of less of a hobby and more of a fascination, although legendary director Steven Spielberg does devote some time to his fascination. He's said that he's spent many nights driving in the desert in the hope that he might come across a UFO. Considering E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was one of his biggest hits, that's not really that much of a surprise. The director has said that he's very much a believer in alien life. 

If you've ever watched How I Met Your Mother, then you probably remember Neil Patrick Harris's character performing a magic trick or two. Well, it turns out that Harris is actually a magician in real life. And we're not saying that he knows a couple of tricks, and that's it; he actually practices magic in his spare time. At one time, he was President of Hollywood’s Magic Castle, which is a pretty prestigious honor. 

With a net worth of around $90 million, Tyra Banks is one of the richest models in the world. She's also broken a lot of barriers, like being the first Black woman to be featured don't the covers of GQ and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. However, despite all of that fame and money, she has a pretty down-to-earth hobby. Banks apparently enjoys rollerblading in her free time. 

Mark Ruffalo apparently hadn't ridden a unicycle for nearly 25 years when he was presented with one of the Graham Norton Show. However, it must be like riding a bike because he just hopped on and rode it as if he'd been doing so all of his life. We're not sure if Ruffalo took up his hobby once again after the show in 2015, but it was clear that, at one point, he was an avid rider. 

Tennis star Maria Sharapova attributes her love of dance to the outings she used to have with her mom when she was a kid. The two used to go see performances, which sparked her interest in jazz dancing. During interviews, she has said that she's still pretty passionate about it, but also that she doesn't plan on showing off her talent onstage in front of a cameras for shows like Dancing with the Stars. 

Elvis may have been mainly known for his stage presence, but he had that same energy when it came to his pastime of roller skating. He even had his very own private rink built at Graceland. Reportedly, he'd go and skate when he wanted to think or just get away for a bit. He even helped the pastime gain popularity. In addition to skating, he also really enjoyed bowling. 

There are plenty of Star Trek fans out there, but actress Rosario Dawson is reportedly among the biggest. Most recently, Dawson killed it as Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars in Ahsoka and The Mandalorian. However, she's said that she wouldn't mind appearing in Star Trek one day, even if it's as an extra. "The two universes, Star Trek and Star Wars. I get in those two, I’m telling you, man, that’s it,” she told Variety. 

Rapper Azealia Banks raised a few eyebrows when she posted a video of her getting ready to clean a room where she said she was doing animal sacrifices in 2016. Banks referred to having to clean all of the blood in the room up, and reportedly, she's no stranger to sacrificing live chickens. “The amount of crap that’s about to come off my floor right now guys? Oh my God,” she said in the video.