Tom Hanks, Amanda Seyfried and more stars haven’t been afraid to share the unique — and strange — items they’ve collected over the years.
Hanks is an avid collector of typewriters, so much so that he wrote a collection of short stories about his affinity for the old-school writing system. The book which is titled Uncommon Type, features 17 tales that revolve around a different typewriter. While the novel focuses on typewriters, Hanks confessed that he didn’t use the classic device to write up the pages.
“I wrote notes and a few pages on an actual typewriter. But come on, for the heavy duty work, it was laptop all the way,” he said in a February 2017 interview with Entertainment Weekly. “Typewriters are for personal letters, for musings, for rambling stream-of-consciousness stamped-in-paper doodling.”
While Hanks’ collection of typewriters is unique, Seyfried’s choice in hobbies takes the cake. The actress has been candid over the years about her interest in taxidermy, which is the art of preserving an animal’s body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study.
Seyfried’s assortment of taxidermied animals includes an owl, miniature horse, miniature zebra, chick and a deer.
Keep scrolling to see what other bizarre items celebrities choose to collect:
Janet Jackson
Years ago, the Grammy winner took up the hobby of gathering pig figurines — but it eventually backfired.
“Everyone started giving them to me. I had hundreds of pigs,” Jackson said in a 2006 interview with Contact Music. “I mean, really, what was I supposed to do with them? So I gave it up!”
Martha Stewart
The businesswoman has so many baskets that she had to build a shed on her property in Bedford, New York, just to store them. She dubbed the section of her home Basket House!
“I have hundreds,” Stewart revealed on her blog in June 2024. “Some are rare and antique, some are vintage and some are more contemporary.”
Emma Roberts
Roberts built a custom “doll wall” in her home to display some of her favorite collectibles, like her “drunk cowgirl” Barbie and Blythe dolls.
“I’m madly obsessed with them,” she said in a April 2024 interview with Architectural Digest, adding, “I hope that every night — that they’ll come wake me up. It would be so thrilling.”
Tom Hanks
The actor selected 35 of his 300 beloved machines to appear in an exhibit titled “Some of Tom’s Typewriters,” which runs until March 10 at The Church in Sag Harbor, New York.
“Every time you type something on a typewriter, it is a one-of-a-kind work of art,” the actor said of his appreciation for the relics. “They’re brilliant combinations of art and engineering.”
Amanda Seyfried
Seyfried has a passion for animals — both living and deceased!
“When taxidermy is done well, it’s an amazing piece of art,” she said during a 2012 appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show. “I love animals, and they’re very easy to look after when they’re dead.”
For more on what bizarre items celebrities collect, pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly on newsstands now.
