12 Actors Who Never Stopped Being Artists

Lucy Liu

Most people know Lucy Liu from Kill Bill, Charlie's Angels and Elementary. Fewer know that she has been making art for more than three decades. Working under the name Yu Ling, Liu creates paintings, sculpture, photography and mixed-media installations that have been exhibited internationally, including in New York, London and Singapore. Her work explores memory, identity and migration, drawing from both personal history and Chinese philosophy. Unlike many celebrity artists, Liu built a serious exhibition practice long before the current fascination with actors entering the art world.

Jemima Kirke

Before she became Jessa in Girls, Jemima Kirke graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and considered painting her primary career. Portraiture remains at the centre of her practice, often depicting friends, family and women from her everyday life with an intimacy that feels both classical and contemporary. She continues to exhibit regularly while balancing acting and painting, refusing to treat either discipline as secondary.

Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey's paintings are loud, political and emotionally raw. His colourful expressionist canvases became internationally known after the documentary I Needed Colour, where he described painting as a necessity rather than a hobby. His studio practice emerged during a difficult period in his life and gradually became an alternative public identity—one less interested in performance than in vulnerability.

Anthony Hopkins

Away from film sets, Anthony Hopkins spends countless hours painting expressive, brightly coloured canvases filled with movement and instinctive mark-making. His works have been exhibited internationally and sold through galleries, reflecting a lifelong commitment to visual art that parallels his acting career. For Hopkins, painting has often been described as a form of meditation.

Viggo Mortensen

Perhaps the closest thing to a true Renaissance figure on this list, Viggo Mortensen moves effortlessly between acting, photography, painting, poetry and publishing. Through his independent press, Perceval Press, he has published numerous books that combine his photographs, drawings, and writing. His visual practice feels deeply connected to the same quiet sensitivity that defines many of his film roles.

Sylvester Stallone

Long before contemporary museums began exhibiting his paintings, Stallone had been working in the studio alongside his film career. His energetic abstract-expressionist canvases have been shown in institutions across Europe, including museum exhibitions in Nice and St. Petersburg. Stallone has often remarked that painting was never a side project—it simply attracted less attention than Rocky.

Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper occupies a unique place in post-war American visual culture. While his acting made him famous, his photography documented the artists, musicians and political atmosphere of 1960s America with remarkable intimacy. Today his photographs are held in major museum collections and are considered essential visual documents of the era surrounding Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha and the rise of Pop Art.

Pierce Brosnan

Before becoming James Bond, Pierce Brosnan studied commercial illustration and originally planned to become an artist. In recent years he has returned to painting full-time, producing colourful, emotionally charged works that have been exhibited and sold internationally. His paintings often balance personal memory with expressive abstraction.

Billy Dee Williams

Billy Dee Williams trained as a painter before pursuing acting and has continued painting throughout his life. His works combine abstraction with figurative elements in what he calls "abstract reality." For Williams, acting and painting have never existed in competition—they are simply different forms of storytelling.

Jane Seymour

Alongside her decades-long acting career, Jane Seymour has developed an established practice in watercolour painting. Her botanical studies, landscapes and figurative works are exhibited regularly and often support charitable initiatives. Painting remains a central part of her creative life rather than an occasional pastime.

Adrien Brody

Adrien Brody has quietly built a contemporary art practice centred on large-scale mixed-media works. His paintings combine graffiti, collage and expressive figuration, reflecting interests in identity, memory and urban culture. Rather than treating art as an extension of celebrity, Brody approaches the studio with the seriousness of a full-time artist.

Johnny Depp

Although Johnny Depp spent years painting privately, his work has recently entered galleries and attracted considerable attention from collectors. His portraits often depict cultural icons, musicians and close friends, revealing a quieter, more introspective side of an actor better known for transformation on screen. Whether viewed as celebrity art or personal expression, painting has become an increasingly significant part of his creative identity.