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Stars and their very surprising hobbies: Brad Pitt, Beyoncé, Rod Stewart & more

Rocker Rod has a passion for model railways

Phoebe Tatham
Content Writer
October 16, 2024
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It turns out that A-listers are just like the rest of us behind closed doors. Away from the glare of the spotlight, the great and good of the showbiz world similarly unwind with a plethora of hobbies and pastimes.

The likes of gardening, baking, reading and walking are to be expected, but did you know that there are a whole fleet of stars with some seriously unexpected hobbies?

Keep scrolling through to discover more about Beyoncé's knack for making honey, Brad Pitt's penchant for pottery and Sir Rod Stewart's obsession with model railways…

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Brad Pitt the potter

While Brad Pitt is renowned for his high-octane performances in the likes of Fury and Fight Club, the 60-year-old actor is worlds away from his typical on-screen roles when it comes to hobbies. 

Perhaps surprisingly, the actor has a passion for pottery. Back in 2022, Brad admitted that he's "seen every season" of The Great Pottery Throw Down. The British show sees amateur potters from across the UK battle it out in a bid to be crowned top potter. 

He has also publicly debuted his work at an exhibition in Finland alongside works produced by musician Nick Cave and artist Thomas Houseago. 

Brad's work included a moulded plaster panel "depicting a gunfight", as well as a miniature house fashioned from tree bark and held together with tape. 

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Beyoncé Knowles the apiarist

You may be surprised to hear that singer Beyoncé boasts more than one 'beyhive'. Fandom aside, the 'Halo' hitmarker also owns her very own beehives and produces her own jars of honey. 

During an interview with Vogue in 2020, she said: "I know it's random, but I have two beehives. Real ones," she shared. "I've had them at my house for a while now. I have around 80,000 bees and we make hundreds of jars of honey a year."

The 43-year-old continued: "I started the beehives because my daughters, Blue and Rumi, both have terrible allergies, and honey has countless healing properties." 

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Tom Hanks the typewriter collector

Forrest Gump star Tom Hanks boasts an impressive collection of 120 typewriters. 

In 2013, he launched the novelty Hanx Writer app which imitates the typescript sound of an actual typewriter. 

At the time, it clinched top spot in the App store. Beyond this, he's also written a short-story collection called Uncommon Type, with each story including a reference to an old-fashioned typewriter.

In his introduction, Tom wrote: "This  is  what  thrills  me about  typewriters:  they  are meant to do one thing and one thing only, and with the tiniest amount of effort and maintenance, they will last a thousand  years." 

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Paris Hilton the wannabe herpetologist

TV star Paris Hilton isn't afraid to get up-close and personal with the natural world. Whilst she's renowned for her perfectly-polished appearance and glamorous lifestyle, the mother-of-two also has a penchant for "frog hunting".

During a chat with The Sun, the 43-year-old explained: "I love frog hunting. I go at my ranches. I have one near Oakland, California, and another in Nevada, and I own an island. So I catch frogs and put them in a bucket and then let them go." 

In Paris' very own words, this feels like the very definition of "sliving" - a portmanteau of the words "slaying" and 'killing it" while "living your best life". 

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Rod Stewart the model railway pro

Rock singer Rod Stewart is obsessed with model railways. The musician built a 124ft fully functional city model which is based on New York and Chicago around 1945. 

During an appearance on BBC Radio 2, he told Jeremy Vine: "I would say 90% of it I built myself… The only thing I wasn't very good at and still am not is the electricals, so I had someone else do that."

He continued: "A lot of people laugh at it being a silly hobby, but it's a wonderful hobby… When I take on something creative like this, I have to give it 110%.

"For me it's addictive. I started, so I just had to finish. I'm lucky I had the room. If I'd have realised at the start it would have taken so long, I'd have probably said, 'No! No! Nah!'"

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Nicole Kidman the daredevil

The Perfect Couple actress Nicole Kidman is a veritable adrenaline junkie. The five-time Oscar winner is a licensed skydiver and reportedly started taking part in the activity while married to Tom Cruise. 

Of her passion, Hugh Jackman previously said: "I think one day she did it like six times." 

Speaking to The Telegraph in 2014, she admitted: "But I'm also a person who jumps out of a plane: I have those strange dichotomies in my personality.

"Skydiving is the closest thing to flying." 

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Elton John the fashion collector

Legendary singer Elton John boasts an enviable wardrobe teeming with maximalist pieces and designer suits. 

The star's favourite accessory of choice? His trusty tinted glasses in varying shapes and sizes. Speaking to The Times, he admitted: "Glasses give me confidence. I'm not me without them." 

It's believed that the 'Crocodile Rock' hitmaker owns several thousand pairs… "David [Furnish] and I had been talking about doing something with glasses for a while, so we decided to clear the wardrobes and put every pair I had on our dinner table to see what we could come up with," Elton told the publication. 

When asked how many frames there were, David added: "Oh, several thousand… Custom frames and ones from Cutler and Gross, Dior, Oliver Peoples, LA Eyeworks, Gucci, Saint Laurent, Tom Ford." 

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Julia Roberts the knitter

A-lister Julia Roberts has a passion for knitting! It's a pastime she learnt while on set, with the actress also passing on her skills to her co-star, Tom Hanks. 

"We called it our lonely meters: 'How lonely were you last night?'" Julia told CBS Sunday Morning host Jane Pauley. 

"And we'd, like, pull out this much knitting. 'Look how lonely I was!' And yeah, so I have been knitting ever since."

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