Hannibal Lecter’s elaborate dinners would probably eat into Mads Mikkelsen’s tennis time. Asked about his interests, the Danish actor said he could happily spend ten hours a day playing tennis, cycling, or shooting baskets, if his body allowed it. His enthusiasm for sport is wonderfully uncomplicated: give him something to play, and the internationally acclaimed actor becomes another bloke reluctant to call it a day. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Surfing, reading, and catching up with friends filled Andrew Garfield’s break from acting. After years of demanding roles, the Spider-Man star wanted room to work out what mattered to him as he approached middle age. Being able to afford a sabbatical is a luxury, certainly. Spending it wondering what you’re doing with your life is considerably more familiar territory. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Getting Bill Murray to answer a work call has famously required navigating a mysterious voicemail number. Getting him interested in Clash of Clans was apparently easier: he told an interviewer he played it with his son on an iPad. Add his involvement with the Charleston RiverDogs, where he holds the title Director of Fun, and his offscreen interests look reassuringly dad-shaped, if unusually eccentric. | © Columbia Pictures
Darth Vader owns a tractor. Hayden Christensen bought a farm in Ontario, although he has since clarified that he stopped farming the land and doesn’t consider himself a farmer. Parenthood brought another recognizable adjustment: far less time for FIFA, Halo, and Call of Duty. Even someone who helped conquer a galaxy can struggle to fit a gaming session around being a dad. | © Lucasfilm
Chelsea, Michigan, got Jeff Daniels back while his film career was taking off. He and his wife returned home to raise their children, then Daniels founded the Purple Rose Theatre Company, giving regional actors a professional stage close to home. That commitment has lasted decades. For the Dumb and Dumber star, staying connected to his hometown meant putting actual work into it. | © HBO Entertainment
Daniel Radcliffe has confessed to leaving bookshops with fifteen or twenty books at once, worried he might never find a particular title again. Anyone with an unread pile beside the bed understands the logic, however questionable. The Harry Potter star described books as his main spending weakness, alongside occasionally treating friends to a night out. His shopping basket sounds considerably more relatable than his bank balance. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Ask Viggo Mortensen about his publishing company and he’ll explain how the books balance financially. His poetry and photography collections help support less commercial titles at Perceval Press, which publishes everything from art to social commentary. It’s a surprisingly practical conversation to have with Aragorn: an actor using his audience to keep other people’s work in print, one small publishing project at a time. | © Universal Studios
Christian Bale’s defense of his battered Toyota Tacoma could come from anyone who refuses to replace a perfectly useful truck. Bought secondhand, it carried his motorcycles, helped friends move things, and caused him no anxiety when it collected scratches. After thirteen years together, he was still praising its practicality. Apparently, driving the Batmobile for work can leave you surprisingly satisfied with ordinary transport. | © Lionsgate Films
Mark Ruffalo remembers his children eating cereal and charging through the screen door into the woods. His family spent several years in a small farming town after leaving Los Angeles, and he later told Interview how much he missed that quieter existence. They eventually returned to city life, but his fondest description of the countryside was simple: fewer distractions and more time together. | © Walt Disney Pictures
A record shop and a horror screening could keep Elijah Wood happily occupied for hours. The Lord of the Rings actor has DJed vinyl sets with Zach Cowie and spoken enthusiastically about the community he discovered at Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse. Listen to him discuss obscure music or a favorite screening and the movie-star distinction quickly becomes secondary. He sounds like someone you’d swap recommendations with. | © New Line Cinema
Seventy-six followers would worry a budding influencer. Matt Damon showed GQ that exact audience on his private Instagram account, which he used to keep up with friends’ children and occasionally share family pictures. His latest post featured a daughter expressing her displeasure at being photographed. International recognition, an Oscar, decades of success: none of it grants immunity from an unimpressed teenager. | © The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Being absent from publicity doesn’t mean Daniel Day-Lewis has stopped talking to people. He has pushed back against the recluse label, explaining that friends, family, and other work fill his life away from cameras. His interests have included ten months learning shoemaking with Stefano Bemer. The famously intense actor is quite capable of getting on with a day that nobody needs to photograph. | © Focus Features
The enormous shorts have a practical application: Adam Sandler really does turn up for pickup basketball. Away from movie sets, he has joined games around the country, looking much as he does on an ordinary coffee run. His explanation for the wardrobe is equally straightforward: he grabs whatever is in the closet. His family makes fun of him, and he gets dressed anyway. | © Sony Pictures Releasing
Bus journeys and trips to buy milk matter to Cillian Murphy for professional reasons as much as personal ones. He has argued that playing ordinary people requires actually living among them, describing public transport and shopping as freedoms he would hate to lose. It’s a sensible approach to acting, with the additional benefit of getting something useful done between all those intense onscreen stares. | © Universal Studios
An ordinary subway courtesy became a lasting part of Keanu Reeves’s public image. In the widely shared clip, he notices a woman carrying a large bag, offers his seat, and stands nearby with his own belongings. Nothing about the gesture requires a movie-star salary. That’s its appeal: the Matrix actor gets on with the journey while the internet spends years applauding his manners. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
A blockbuster paycheck doesn’t come with instructions to buy a yacht, though plenty of actors seem to think it does. Others have surprisingly ordinary ideas about how to spend their money and their days. These 15 famous actors show a more down-to-earth side of celebrity life, where familiar routines can be more appealing than another excuse to walk a red carpet.
