You'd think being rich and famous would be enough to occupy a celebrity's time, but for
some celebs, there's more to life than being in the limelight.
Some of these stars put in hours at their side gig solely as a passion project.
But others could actually support themselves on their moonlighting efforts should they
ever find themselves cast out of showbiz.
Here are some celebs who quietly work a regular job.
Jeremy Renner
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Hawkeye has a running gag about how he's constantly doing
renovations to his home.
Perhaps that was a way for the filmmakers to give a nod to Jeremy Renner's real-life
passion: house flipping.
Actually, to call what Renner and his real estate business partner do "house flipping"
is an understatement.
One of Renner's most recent projects was a Holmby Hills estate that sold for $24 million.
So, he's not exactly spending his nights and weekends hanging drywall.
In fact, Renner seems to act in more of a project manager capacity for these high-end
renovations.
He said, "With the houses we build, I make all the decisions about design, materials,
fabrics, furniture, everything.
These homes are beyond turnkey; they're fully loaded.
Fresh-cut flowers, linens, towels, the whole bit.
You just bring some clothes, and you're good to go."
Prince William
Barring any unfortunate accidents or terminal illness, Prince William is going to be the
King of England one day.
But when the Duke of Cambridge isn't busy being a royal and a father, William's been
donning a flight suit and volunteering 20 hours a week for the East Anglian Air Ambulance,
a non-profit service that flies helicopter missions.
William told the BBC he does this work because, "I look forward to coming here every day,
whether it's 5:30am or going to bed at 2am.
The shift work is exciting…
And the fact that I love working in a team.
That's something that my other job doesn't necessarily do."
And seriously, it's not only selfless, but downright heroic that he does this, so good
on him.
Daniel Day-Lewis
Known for his method acting and ultra selectiveness in choosing roles, Daniel Day-Lewis is also
quite committed when it comes to his side job.
He did an apprenticeship with a renowned Italian cobbler, the late Stefano Bemer, for eight
months, and rarely spoke about the experience to the media.
In an interview with The Hartford Courant, though, the actor confessed: "I don't mean
to give it a greater air of mystery than it has.
It's as much for the work I do as an actor as anything else.
Who knows if it does inform the work in the time you take away, but I choose to believe
it does."
Nick Offerman
If you had to imagine the mustachioed Ron Swanson taking up a side pursuit, your first
answer would have to be woodworking, right?
"For the last three years I have served as troop leader of the Pawnee Rangers.
This is our handbook.
I wrote the whole thing myself."
And while actor Nick Offerman is quite different in real life than his Parks and Recreation
counterpart, a love of craftwork is something they definitely have in common.
Offerman grew up learning woodworking skills from his family, then combined his love of
that craft with his study of theater to open his own shop that specialized in building sets.
Eventually, he made his way to LA and found success in acting, but Offerman always maintained
his love of working with his hands.
And it's not just a hobby for him — it's literally his life philosophy.
He told Popular Mechanics,
"Choosing to make things, or having the skills to fix things in your life, whether it's your
vehicles or your home or your clothing — that's what I mean by a way of living."
Offerman's craftsmanship can be found on display at Offerman Wood Shop, an LA-based co-op where
various other craftsmen also share the space to hone their trade.
Tom Selleck
It may seem like the natural side business for Tom Selleck to have gone into would have
been selling mustache wax and tiny combs.
"Nice mustache, by the way.
When puberty hits that thing's really gonna kick in."
But he didn't do that.
Instead, he bought a California ranch with a working avocado farm.
His farming business recently got him into some hot water, though, when he was accused
of stealing municipal water from a fire hydrant during California's "unprecedented drought,"
to keep his crop alive.
James Franco
Thanks to his convincing movie roles, some people might have the perception that James
Franco is a lazy stoner.
This couldn't be farther from the truth.
In fact, it's almost impossible to keep track of every side gig James Franco pursues.
Aside from acting, he's an author, director, poet, and visual artist.
In 2011, he started out teaching a filmmaking course at NYU, and despite some controversy
and the inevitable criticism lobbed at a celebrity teacher, he seems to have maintained the pursuit.
In 2014, Franco made his way onto the faculty at UCLA.
Erykah Badu
Multiple Grammy Award-winner Erykah Badu is not only an esteemed musician, she's also
a fashion icon and role model for women.
She's also a deeply spiritual person who once published an essay in Essence which read,
in part: "The ultimate human JOY we seek can only be found in the full acceptance of who
we really are and not in the avatars we've created to define ourselves."
So yeah, she's clearly operating on another level.
That's probably the reason she was so profoundly moved during the birth of her friend's child,
that she became an official doula and has since assisted in dozens of births.
"It's a very natural thing, it's an ancient art.
Ummm.
We have been doing this from the beginning of time."
Kevin Costner
In the immediate aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster which led to over 130 million
gallons of oil being spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, Kevin Costner emerged as a real-life hero.
He offered the centrifuge technology that his company, Ocean Therapy Solutions, developed
as a way to separate oil from water in just such an occasion.
He said of the offer,
"At its core, my dream, this machine, was designed to give us a fighting chance to fight
back the oil that has got us by the throat."
Unfortunately, his machines were never used, because it took so long to get them loaded
onto ships and out onto the water.
But it still shed some light on Costner's amazing side business that nobody knew about.
Lenny Kravitz
Rock legend and movie star Lenny Kravitz has always had a definitive style.
From his ever-changing hair to his funky, eclectic wardrobe, the guitarist and singer
has always been on the cutting edge of new fashion trends.
And despite the fact that he's often spotted in the front row of Fashion Week runway shows,
most people are unaware that he also founded a design firm in 2003, called Kravitz Design.
His approach to the interior and product design firm seems to mirror his own personal style,
in that there is no single, defining characteristic to the work except that they work on high-end
properties in Manhattan.
Steven Seagal
It's a bit of a stretch to say that Steven Seagal has "quietly" been working as a cop,
since the 2009 reality show, Steven Seagal: Lawman, was based on his unbelievable part-time job.
But before his work hit the reality TV circuit, he'd been doing police work with the Jefferson
Parish Sheriff's Office two decades.
Seagal has since resigned from the force, allegedly to avoid facing allegations by a
former assistant who accused him of "sex trafficking and creating a hostile work environment."
But the Under Siege star resurfaced on the law enforcement scene in Arizona a few years
later, so it's clear he's abiding by the "once a cop, always a cop" mantra.
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