Top 10 Celebrities with Hidden Talents

Chandler Bing may be goofy and sarcastic, but the man who played him for ten seasons is full of the drive to succeed. Before he started acting, Matthew Perry focused that drive on the tennis court, practicing some 10 hours a day on his way to becoming one of Canada’s top-ranked junior players. But when he was 15-years-old, he moved withhis family from Ottawa to Los Angeles, and he realized he didn’t have the skills necessary to make it as a pro. Perry then turned to acting, a career choice that’s allowed him to show off his skills with a racquet more than once – but always with a comedic twist.

He’s an actor, producer, humanitarian, director, and the Hulk. But did you know that Mark Ruffalo is also talented in the art of circus tricks? After learning the skills at the age of 12, Ruffalo has proven himself capable of mastering the difficult task of riding any (or at least two) sizes of unicycle, as demonstrated on various appearances on “The Graham Norton Show.” At one point, he even revealed he wished to join the brotherhood of the red-nosed, seltzer-sprayers. We figure that woulda been pretty entertaining. Not as entertaining as the Hulk on a unicycle, but close.

Five years before “Ice Ice Baby” was released, the man born as Robert Van Winkle was carving it up on motocross raceways. In fact, before he was famous he won three straight motocross Grand National Championships in his hometown of Dallas, Texas. Once Vanilla Ice became a household name, his hobby took a backseat for a few years, until 1993 when a short hiatus from the music biz not only allowed Ice to return to the bike, but also gave him a chance to take up jet skiing; a sport at which he was once ranked sixth in the world. We always knew Vanilla Ice had the breakdancing moves, but who knew he was such an athlete?

Though her public persona as vial-of-blood-wearing, tattoo-getting wild child has evolved significantly since she first made a name for herself as an actress, some things never change: A-list actress Angelina Jolie is apparently an expert in knife-play. Having developed an interest in knives and weaponry after attending a Renaissance Faire as a little girl, Jolie’s interest expanded as she got older. She’s known to collect daggers and have a stellar knife collection, knows how to use a butterfly knife and she also apparently learned how to throw them on the set of “Tomb Raider.” So we figure it’s best to stay on her good side…

Turns out the fifth James Bond is quite the master of fire. When he was in his late-teens, Brosnan was attending an acting workshop when he stumbled upon another kind of seminar: a fire-eating instructor was running a demonstration, and whether it was the topic of the class or the half-naked ladies in attendance, Brosnan was intrigued. He eventually took his fire-eating skills to the streets as a busker, where he was spotted by a circus agent and hired for a three year run. As he’s proven over his career, those performance skills translated to acting, and today he’s known all over the world for his well-executed performances – and now for his fire breathing!

While some might say that Lautner’s greatest talent is his ability to make his shirts disappear, the “Twilight” star first took karate lessons at age six, becoming proficient in martial arts in just a few years and earning his black belt at eight. Lautner eventually moved onto Xtreme Martial Arts, which helped add to the intensity of his karate skills and taught him showmanship, as well as how to command attention. That, in addition to his other hobbies playing baseball, football, and jazz and hip-hop dance, proved to the young man that he had the talent necessary to try his hand at an acting career. The rest is history.

What is it that made Dr. Derek Shepherd so McDreamy: his skills as a surgeon? His looks? His boyish charm? No, we like to think it’s his juggling skills. The man behind the character, Patrick Dempsey, was so interested in performing as a teen that he learned to juggle. And it turned into more than a hobby: not only did Dempsey place as a runner-up in a national juggling competition in 1981, he also used his skill to keep a little money in his pockets between acting gigs. You know how most people can juggle three balls? Dempsey can juggle up to five balls at once. And if balls bore you, he’s also tossed pins and, yes, even plates.

Not only can he fly the Millennium Falcon, Harrison Ford is also a qualified pilot of both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. After dropping out of flight training in the 1960s due to a lack of funds, Ford took this hobby back up in the ‘90s by buying a plane and commissioning a pilot to give him lessons. Perhaps even more surprising, he’s offered up his expertise for various rescue missions, providing emergency services to stranded hikers, for example. Though he’s suffered through more than one crash over the years, the man behind Indiana Jones has a quest for adventure on the screen and off, with a true passion for the sky.

If you were an Academy Award-winning actress who’d been in the business for over 20 years, maybe you’d want to try something different. After watching an archery event at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Geena Davis – who, by her own admission, was not a life-long athlete – took an interest in the sport. By the time the run-up to the 2000 Olympics rolled around, she’d been training professionally for a couple of years and was practicing five-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week. She actually came pretty close to representing the USA at the Sydney Olympics, with her strong archery skills earning her the 24th spot out of 300 possible female Olympic competitors in the sport. Bad. Ass.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Bruce Willis
Harmonica Playing
- Justin Bieber
Solving a Rubik’s Cube
- Christopher Walken
Lion Taming
- Mike Rowe
Opera Singing
- Bob Dylan
Iron Welding

Now one of the most legen – wait for it – dary actors around, NPH has proven his talent in pulling fantastic performances out of his proverbial hat in drama, comedy, music, dancing and now… magic. He’s been performing magic as a hobby since before his “Doogie Howser” days. And today, it seems that Harris will jump at any chance he gets to perform his jaw dropping tricks and illusions, amazing audiences with flawless routines. But NPH actually takes the art of magic quite seriously; after all, he is the former President of the Board of Directors of Hollywood’s prestigious Magic Castle and has even hosted the World Magic Awards. No wonder Barney Stinson’s such a magical guy!

Do you agree with our list? Which celebrity has a hidden talent that impressed you? For more revealing top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.