14 Celebrities with Surprising Musical Talents
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Many of our Hollywood favorites boast more than one talent. And while it’s not surprising for a singer to venture into acting or an actor to try their hand at directing, seeing a star pick up a saxophone will never not blow our mind.
From Jason Kelce‘s impressive sax skills to Tina Fey‘s flute-playing to Steven Spielberg‘s love for the clarinet, these stars have proven to be instrumentally inclined. In fact, Spielberg has even used some of his clarinet to score some of his famous movies — and he’s not the only director on this list to have done so!
Check out these 14 celebrities who have surprising musical talents.
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner’s saxophone-playing skills are no secret — she loves to celebrate her teenage years in the marching band. But perhaps there’s no other moment where she truly flexed than when she gave her pal Reese Witherspoon a musical tribute for her birthday last year, leaving us all feeling like … our friends could do more.
Jason Kelce
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He can tackle 300-pound men on the football field, and he can also fit right in with a marching band. Jason Kelce proved he can truly do it all when he surprised Baltimore Ravens fans by playing sax with the team’s band ahead of their Sept. 22 matchup against the Detroit Lions.
Bill Clinton
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Does anyone else recall that specific moment in time in the ’90s when you couldn’t separate Bill Clinton from his saxophone? The 42nd president of the United States (who was then the governor of Arkansas) wowed the nation when he played the instrument on the Arsenio Hall Show back in 1992.
Steven Spielberg
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We doubt that Steven Spielberg would have let Steven Spielberg score his feature-length debut, Firelight, if his clarinet-playing skills weren’t up to par back in 1964. The famed director, who played the instrument in his high school band, also resurfaced the talent for the score of Jaws decades later.
Tina Fey
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Tina Fey is a woman of many talents, flute playing being one of them. The multihyphenate creative played it for a year in fifth grade and tapped back into that woodwind skill when she famously portrayed Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live.
Ryan Gosling
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The fact that Ryan Gosling was a Disney kid lets us know the breadth of his talents. Sure, now we only see him as an actor (though that “I’m Just Ken” performance at the Oscars took us back), but the La La Land star also sang and break danced back in the day — and he plays guitar.
Samuel L. Jackson
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Samuel L. Jackson was most known for cheerleading during his years at Morehouse, but he had band experience too: The famed actor played the French horn and trumpet in his school orchestra between the fifth and twelfth grades.
Clint Eastwood
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Like Spielberg, Clint Eastwood has utilized his musical talents in his movies as well. A piano player, Eastwood is also a composer and jazz aficionado, per NPR. He’s scored movies such as Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, Mystic River and more.
Steve Martin
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Only a genius as idiosyncratic as Steve Martin could have banjo-playing on his resumé. The beloved comedian actor has made many talk show appearances with the instrument, and let it rip on the Steep Canyon Rangers’ song, “So Familiar.”
Bruce Willis
Famous for fighting bad guys on the big screen, Bruce Willis often showed his musical side by playing the harmonica during press appearances and with his band, The Accelerators. Back in 2022, wife Emma Heming Willis shared a cool video of the actor jamming with Derrick Richard Thomas in their home.
Meryl Streep
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Because Meryl Streep couldn’t be mediocre even if she tried, she learned to play violin for 1999’s Music of the Heart and in eight weeks, had picked up the craft enough to convince us she was a seasoned pro.
Courteney Cox
“Smelly Cat” remix? Courteney Cox picked up the piano during the pandemic back in 2020, and by February 2021, she was skilled enough to give us this rendition of the Friends theme song.
Dustin Hoffman
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If everything had gone to Dustin Hoffman‘s plan, the Wag the Dog actor would have been a classical pianist. However, one acting class and a Tennessee Williams play changed the trajectory of his artistic endeavors, leading him to be a two-time Oscar winner.
Dermot Mulroney
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Just how good is Dermot Mulroney at the cello? He’s been tapped to play in the orchestra for the scores of movies including Star Wars and Scream. He credits his prolific work to his relationship with Oscar-nominated composer Michael Giacchino, explaining, “I’ve done so many because once you’re in his orchestra, he included me with the greatest musicians in Los Angeles, which of course means the country, which of course means [an] arrival with any in the world. And there I sit in that group.”
Credit to Nypost AND Peoples
