Back in the Golden Age of Hollywood, it was fairly routine for people to pack up all their things and move to Tinseltown in the hope of landing an audition. You don't really need to do that anymore - videotapes and the internet exist, and so you can send a demo reel in from wherever you are. Hollywood will call you if they're interested. Josh Hutcherson must be an old-school guy, though, because he risked it all and fled to Hollywood in 2002. It took a few years for him to make it, but it all worked out well in the end.
If you're looking at Hutcherson's face and wondering where you know him from, we'll put you out of your misery. It's 'The Hunger Game,' in which he was Peeta Mellark. He was blond back then though, so he looks a little different now. He also looks taller on the big screen - when you see him on the red carpet at a premiere, as we do here, you might be surprised to find that he's only 5 foot 7.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.