10 celebrities with hidden talents: From Bradley Cooper speaking French to Geena Davis’s Olympic-level archery

Second languages, musical skills, and the ability to triple axel on the ice ... these stars have shown they're more than just pretty faces

Angelina Jolie is a qualified pilot, Gwyneth Paltrow is fluent in Spanish and Chris Evans can play the piano. AFP, Getty Images

Taking to Instagram Stories last week, Avengers: Endgame star Chris Evans wowed fans by skilfully playing the piano – a talent the actor, 39, had hitherto not shown off. And it turns out that Evans isn't the only Hollywood star with a secret skill.

Here, we reveal the talents Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Steve Carell and more have, and their skills might surprise you …

Chris Evans can play the piano

Captain America showed off his hidden talent on Instagram Stories, posting a video of himself playing the piano. Captioning the video, “Learning one of my favourites by Fabrizio Paterlini”, the actor donned a chunky knit jumper to show off his musical prowess, a style choice that garnered almost as much attention as his playing.

A flattered Paterlini later tweeted: “Something in the air tells me that today is the day in which Chris Evans played one of my songs.” He later added: “Now I clearly understand when someone says: ‘This made my day’.”

Angelina Jolie has a pilot's licence

Angelina Jolie flew her plane in documentary 'The Queen's Green Planet', and has held a pilot's licence since 2004. Courtesy ITV

The Oscar winner credits her son, Maddox, with inspiring her love of flying after he became obsessed with planes at a young age. The Maleficent actress, 45, took lessons and gained her private pilot's licence in 2004, purchasing a Cirrus SR22-G2 single-engine plane. The tail number of her aircraft contains the letters MX in honour of Maddox.

Bradley Cooper is fluent in French

The actor, 45, may have got his start in Hollywood by playing some of the worst kinds of frat bros (we're looking at you, Sack Lodge in Wedding Crashers), but in real life, the star is cerebral and eloquent. Cooper studied for six months in Aix-en-Provence in France when he was younger, and has kept up his language skills. And although he claims his grammar can be "debile" (stupid), we think it's very impressive.

Nicole Richie can figure skate

This video might be from a few years ago, but the TV personality , 39, can still show some serious moves on the ice.

“That was a real time for me,” she has said of her years spent competing in figure-skating tournaments. “I was going to tutorial school, I was figure skating at 5am, it was my entire world.” When she graduated high school, her parents gave her the choice of competing professionally or going to college – the actress and presenter chose school.

Justin Bieber can solve a Rubik’s Cube in two minutes

He may have just been nominated for four Grammy Awards, but Justin Bieber also boasts talents beyond music. The Canadian is a whizz at solving the Rubik's Cube. Showing off his talents on The Late Late Show With James Corden, the Where Are You Now singer, 26, astounded the chat show host with his prowess. As a comparison, the world record for solving the Rubik's Cube in the fastest time is 4.22 seconds, and is held by Australian Feliks Zemdegs, but we still think two minutes is impressive.

Pierce Brosnan is a fire eater

Is there nothing James Bond can't do? Apparently not, as 67-year-old former 007 Pierce Brosnan has a surprise secret talent – he can fire eat.

The Irish star took a course in the delicate art of fire eating back in 1969, and retained his skills throughout the years.

Gwyneth Paltrow speaks Spanish

Not content with being an actress, businesswoman, wife, mother and Oscar winner, Gwyneth Paltrow, 49, is also fluent in Spanish. She credits a year spent in Talavera de la Reina, Spain, as an exchange student when she was 15 with igniting her passion for the country and language. “It really changed my life,” she later said. “Spain became a second home. The way people live over there. They seem to enjoy life a little bit more. They aren’t running around as much as in New York. They enjoy time with the family.”

Mark Ruffalo can ride a unicyle

The second Avenger on our list has an impressive hidden talent – he can ride a unicycle. Revealing that he mastered the tricky balancing act aged 12 when he learnt a series of circus skills, the actor, 53, proved he still had it, showing off his skills on The Graham Norton Show, despite claiming it had been "almost 25 years" since he'd last attempted a ride.

Geena Davis is an Olympic-level archer

She might have made this video for a comedy website, but the Thelma & Louise star's skills are seriously good. The actress, 64, competed in the 1999 Olympic semi-finals for archery, ahead of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. She placed 29th out of 300 women in the trials, which didn't win her a place in the US Olympic squad.

"My archery hadn't become public knowledge until now," she told the New York Times during the trials. "This was my little secret. I'm just considered one of the archers, but at the beginning, when people saw me shooting, they said, 'What?' That was kind of fun, just seeing their reactions."

Steve Carell is a talented ice hockey player

Steve Carell showed off his ice skating skills during an episode of 'The Office' and once considered a career in the NHL. NBCU Photo Bank

There's a scene in episode 19, season 2 of the US version of The Office, titled Michael's Birthday, in which Steve Carell's Michael Scott shows off some serious moves at the ice rink. And it turns out the talent was real, because the 58-year-old Foxcatcher actor's team won a national championship when he was younger, and he once considered a career in the National Hockey League.

"It didn't go well, clearly," he told ESPN. "You know, you reach a point in your life when you have to get honest, and that wasn't going to happen. But I enjoyed it. I played through college."

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