Susan Sarandon loves ping-pong so much, she not only opened a New York club called SPiN devoted to the sport, she is also using it as the setting for a reality-TV show. The actress, who refers to herself as the "Johnny Appleseed of ping-pong," said the show won't be like Jersey Shore, but instead will be more of "an episodic documentary" chronicling the young players. It's hard to tell where her devotion ends: Rumors circulated in December that fellow SPiN entrepreneur Jonathan Bricklin was the cause of her split with longtime companion Tim Robbins, and the two have been spotted out since then. But wherever her passion for ping-pong begins, Sarandon is undoubtedly proud of her table-tennis skills.
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Nothing can tarnish Irishman Colin Farrell's machismo image…except, maybe, line dancing?? The Daredevil star had an eight-month stint as a country western line-dancing instructor in the early 1990s, touring his native country in a minibus. "We weren't embarrassed," explained a fellow dancer and friend of Farrell's of their cowboy hat, vest, and bandana outfits. "The modeling agency used to tell us it was important we kept in shape, and this was a way of keeping fit." But Farrell isn't quite as proud now. While appearing on Ellen in 2004, he demonstrated his skills and explained where they came from. "There was a craze for a year when I was 17," he said. "This bird came in from Texas and taught us all how to line-dance and then she went back to Texas and we line-danced and went around Ireland teaching people how."
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Scientology isn't TomKat's only addiction: Katie Holmes has professed a love for speed Scrabble (also known as Take Two), a version of the perennial game night favorite that's played without a board. She and husband Tom Cruise host game nights and have challenged friends Eva Longoria Parker, Victoria Beckham, and David Beckham. "Well, we like to play this version of Scrabble which is… it's like a fast version of Scrabble," Holmes told Access Hollywood. " It's pretty stressful… It's intense but it's addictive." In 2006, Vanity Fair's Jane Sarkin recalled that the couple played "round after round of Take Two, a quick-paced crossword-style game, using Scrabble tiles" and that "Tom seems proud to have encouraged his kids to share in his need for speed." Do we even need to guess who's the Top Gun in their house?
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In Happy Gilmore, Bob Barker, playing himself, famously threw down with Adam Sandler—and won. Barker refused to use a stuntman for the duel, as he was perfectly capable of throwing a powerful punch on his own. The famed Price Is Right host had taken karate lessons from the legendary Chuck Norris. Age didn't deter Barker from learning the art of Empty Hand—the beloved TV personality began lessons just shy of his 50th birthday and continued until he was 75. "I started having trouble with my knees and trouble with my back and one of my shoulders," Barker told The St. Petersburg Times. "My doctor, who had been in karate himself, said, ‘Do you think maybe you're getting a little old for all these spinning, jumping back kicks?' That hadn't even occurred to me." Need any more proof of how strong Barker is? Check out this video of Barker doing some serious damage to Craig Ferguson's desk.
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Born and bred California girl Leslie Mann has proven herself as more than director/producer Judd Apatow's arm candy. The actress has shown her comedic prowess in films from Big Daddy to The 40-Year-Old Virgin to 17 Again, which revealed another of Mann's skills. While promoting the movie on Ellen, the actress took off her shoes and showcased her talents on the unicycle—all while wearing a dress. "I'm really good at it," the actress explained. "It's so weird, now that I think about it.'' Judd, can you please get to work on The 40-Year-Old Unicyclist?
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Before donning latex to play Storm in the X-Men film franchise, earning an Oscar for her heartbreaking performance in 2001's Monster's Ball, or taking on the role of Bond girl in 2002, actress Halle Berry had much more modest interests. As a student at Bedford High School in Cleveland, young Berry played the flute—and, as rumor has it, she was quite good. Though she has since moved on from the band geek image, Berry has stayed true to her instrumental interests—she earned an Emmy for her role as actress and singer Dorothy Dandridge and married (and divorced) musician Eric Benet.
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Woody Allen once famously said, "I failed to make the chess team because of my height," but that hasn't stopped him from being an avid chess player. Showing off his knowledge of the game, Allen published a humorous essay in 1966 in The New Yorker about the correspondence between two chess players, especially after the letter containing the 22nd move was lost in the mail. Chess has also popped up in some of Allen's films, including 2009's Whatever Works. As his proxy, Larry David plays Boris Yellnikoff, who teaches chess to children, but then attacks their mothers for birthing "cretins" who can't play the game. That Woody. He always wins.
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While growing up in Charleston, West Virginia, Jennifer Garner was just another band geek. Garner played the saxophone at George Washington High School and told People magazine she wasn't ashamed of the stereotypes that come along with such instrumental prowess during one's awkward adolescence complete with thick-framed glasses and very ‘80s bangs. "I was proud of it," she explained to the magazine.
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Give David Arquette yarn and some needles and he'd fit right in with a group of post-menopausal women. That's right—knitting is not just for your grandmother anymore: Rumor has it Courteney Cox's husband is one of Hollywood's most avid knitters. Arquette said he has " big, clumsy fingers," but that hasn't stopped him from being name-dropped by How-To knitting author Edith Eig as having a passion and penchant for the skill. According to Eig's book in Mother of Purl, Arquette was one of her clients at La Knitte Parisienne in L.A.
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All the single ladies love Connect Four. Kanye West caught wind of Beyoncé's fondness for that time-honored improvement on tic-tac-toe while playing between shows in Europe back in 2008. Fancying himself a solid player, the self-proclaimed "Best Rapper of All Time" was interested in testing his skills against the famed Knowles, who'd garnered a reputation for thrashing her weary opponents. "I had 2 play her!"
Kanye exclaimed on his blog. So the locale was set: Las Vegas at the 40/40 Club. After 10 matches, Beyoncé proved the decisive winner. "She beat me 9 times in a row! (and I didn't even spaz lol)," West wrote of his defeat.
Oscar-winning actress Geena Davis was first introduced to archery while watching the 1996 Atlanta Olympics on television. Fascinated by the skill and stoic poise of the athletes, she became an avid follower of the sport and only months later took up the bow and arrow. As it turned out, she was uncommonly skilled herself. In between movies, Davis competed in tournaments and finished 29th among 300 women in the 1999 national championships, qualifying her for the United States Olympic Trials semifinals. Though she fell just short of making it to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she told The New York Times that she is appreciative of what archery did for her. "You learn a lot about yourself," she once said. "You have to have faith in yourself and believe in your abilities. It was an area I had never delved into."
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Now that he's out of the ring, Mike Tyson says he can focus on his first love, which was not boxing, but rather pigeon flying. A lifelong collector, he is taking this love to the next level in an upcoming reality series, Take on Tyson, an Animal Planet show devoted to racing his own birds against some of New York's top pigeon racers. Although Tyson says he's a lifelong pigeon devotee—going back to his youth in Brooklyn—PETA has taken aim at the show, saying, "These gentle, loyal birds who race their hearts out in order to get home to their life mates often become lost in storms or have their necks wrung for failing to beat their competitors' time." May we suggest PETA's spokespeople cover their ears?
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