THE SECRET TALENTS OF HOLLYWOOD STARS

As if Hollywood celebrities didn’t already have enough to lord over the rest of us, with their abundant talent, good looks and beachfront properties, they also have mad skills nobody has heard about. Movie writers Peter Howell and Linda Barnard asked them at the Toronto International Film Festival to tell us about their secret talents.

Benicio Del Toro ( Sicario): “I can make the sound of a horse galloping. I do that for money, man. That’s when I get the big money!”

Liev Schreiber ( Spotlight): Carpenter. “My father is a very, very talented wood-worker and I have just started doing that under his tutelage and it’s been great. I like it. It’s a lot of fun. I built a playhouse from a kit with my father, for the kids, and that kind of got me. Then I made myself a work bench, which I’m very proud of.”

Jean-Marc Vallée ( Demolition): “I DJ and I’m going to DJ tonight, by the way. I’m not supposed to say where. I also like to karaoke on rock ’n’ roll. I like to do ‘Ziggy Stardust.’ It’s one of my favourite songs. I think I’m not too bad at it.”

Ridley Scott ( The Martian): “I paint and draw, quite seriously. I’m not selling them yet. I started painting again five years ago. I was a long time at art school, five years. There were some very good painters where I came from: Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Lucian Freud. I’m too embarrassed at this point to show them. They’re all secret.”

Drew Barrymore ( Miss You Already): “I know it’s very Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club, but I can do a lot of things with my toes. I can pick everything up. When you have two kids in your arms, you get really good at picking everything up with your feet or pushing a door open or clicking your phone or turning off the TV.”