25+ Fun Facts About Hollywood’s Senior Studs

Many actors we used to see in the movies are now becoming senior Hollywood actors, but the fact remains that they look great. In fact, some of them look even better than they did when they were young. And now that they’re older and have gained more experience, it’s time to have a throwback and reveal 1 or 2 fun facts about their careers to really understand what it’s like to be in their shoes.

Bright Side made a compilation of fun facts regarding some of the most well-known actors that broke everyone’s hearts in the ’80s and ’90s.

Brad Pitt

This is Brad Pitt in 2016, promoting the film, Allied.

• He was banned from entering China for nearly 20 years because the government didn’t take kindly to his participation in the film, Seven Years in Tibet, which portrays the Chinese regime’s relationship with the Himalayan region as sketchy.

• His first job in Los Angeles was wearing a chicken costume and dancing in the streets of the city to promote the chain restaurant, El Pollo Loco.

• Initially, he was offered the role of Neo in the trilogy The Matrix, but it was Keanu Reeves who ended up getting the role, as we all now know.

• Ironically, he injured his Achilles tendon while playing the character of Achilles in the movie, Troy. Filming had to be postponed for this very reason.

George Clooney

• In 2012 he was arrested with his father during a protest at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington. The demonstration took place to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. He paid a fine for this and then expressed his concern to President Barack Obama in a private meeting.
• When he first moved to Los Angeles to work as an actor, he spent months sleeping in a walk-in-closet at a friend’s apartment because he couldn’t afford to pay rent. It wasn’t until he found small acting gigs for which he could get paid that he finally got a place. He now owns a wonderful mansion in Italy.
• He’s such a fan of the South Park series that he’s credited for promoting the original short that inspired the series. He eventually appeared on the show as Sparky the dog. The showrunners wanted to have a famous actor appear on the show and have a small part as a joke. So, he only did canine sounds without any dialogue.
• For almost 20 years he had a nearly 300-pound Vietnamese pig as a pet that once woke him up during an earthquake.

Pierce Brosnan

• For every installment of the James Bond franchise, Brosnan also received a top-notch BMW car as part of his payment.
• The first movie he ever watched was 1964’s Goldfinger. 30 years afterward, he became one of the most iconic 007’s ever.
• He has been both the thinnest (164 lb) and the chubbiest (211 lb) actor to wear Agent 007’s iconic suit, according to the tailors of the production.

Tom Cruise

• Cruise was raised Catholic. At age 14, he even enrolled in the seminary to become a priest, before becoming interested in acting.
• He has never allowed his likeness to be used for video games or action figures.
• He decided to turn to acting because he lost his place on the school wrestling team due to a knee injury.
• Cruise is always up for a good dose of action. He performs most of his stunts himself.

Hugh Grant

• He got the lead in Four Weddings and a Funeral by playing a tape of his brother’s wedding where he was the best man at his audition.
• He came pretty close to playing the magician, Gilderoy Lockhart, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but had to abandon the project at the very last minute due to overlapping projects.
• He collects works of art, a hobby that has left him millions in profits. An example of this is a painting by artist Andy Warhol where he drew Elizabeth Taylor that he bought for $3.6 million and sold for $21 million.

Antonio Banderas

• His leap from Spanish films to Hollywood blockbusters was not an easy one, mostly because he didn’t really speak English at a native level, so he had to memorize his lines phonetically in his first movies.
• His first choice was not to become an actor, but a soccer player. Unfortunately, an injury at age 14 drove him off the field.
• It is said that in 1991, when Madonna traveled to Madrid, she met Banderas and helped introduce him to Hollywood. He appeared in her pseudo-documentary film, Madonna: Truth or Dare.
• For his role in The Mask of Zorro, he trained for 4 months with the Spanish Olympic fencing team.
• He once hosted President Barack Obama at his home for a fundraiser. For safety reasons, they had to use code names. The actor’s code name was, of course, “Zorro.”

Gerard Butler

• Music is another one of his passions. Before devoting himself entirely to acting, he was part of a Scottish rock band called Speed.
• He studied at the University of Glasgow to become a lawyer and was even president of the Law Society of his school.
• His mascot is a sweet little pug named Lolita.
• In 1997, while filming Mrs. Brown, he saved a child from drowning in a river, for which he received a certificate of bravery.
• His favorite actor and Hollywood co-worker is Christian Bale.

There’s no doubt that these actors will always have something new to surprise us with. Would you like us to make a second compilation of fun facts about even more actors? Which ones should we include on the list? Let us know in the comment section.