Most movie stars like to take breaks between big films, but they don’t necessarily want to stop making money. Check out these five ways movie stars make money between films.

Working as Musicians

Creative types often use their off time pursuing other crafts, such as visual art or music. Keanu Reeves played bass in a band called Dogstar until the Matrix Trilogy hurtled him into a new level of celebrity. Donald Glover, who acts in movies as well as the television series Community, spends quite a bit of time pursuing his career as a rapper under the pseudonym Childish Gambino. By all accounts, Glover is considerably better at his musical craft than Reeves.

Inventing New Technologies

Few actors have successful careers as inventors. 1930′s film star Hedy Lamarr, however, had a flair for mathematics that made her an outstanding inventor as well as an actress. In fact, Lamarr co-created a technology that made it nearly impossible for enemy armies to jam radio communications from US soldiers. The military didn’t fully understand the importance of her invention, but her frequency-hopping, spread-spectrum patent played an instrumental role in developing Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth.

Endorsing Products

Jenna Fischer, who has performed in hit comedies such as Blades of Glory and Hall Pass, made some extra cash by endorsing Proactiv products in 2010. While endorsing products like Proactiv’s dark spot corrector, she also won a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance on The Office. That must have been a busy year!

Appearing in Foreign Commercials

A lot of actors don’t want to appear in commercials because they worry the work might tarnish their reputations. When they’re away from home, though, many of them will appear in commercials for extra cash. Jennifer Aniston appeared in a German Heineken commercial. Leonardo DiCaprio starred in a TV ad for an Italian telephone company. One of the weirdest examples, though, comes from Nicholas Cage, who played himself in a commercial for a Japanese gaming device. In the ad, he becomes crazed by blonde triplets, jumps on top of his car while yelling “fever!”, and speeds off without warning.

Investing in Businesses

Movie stars have a lot of money, so they are key targets for any entrepreneur who needs startup capital. Planet Hollywood is probably the most popular example of this. Without investments and endorsements from Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, it’s unlikely that this chain would have become as popular.
Ashton Kutcher has invested his money in companies that seem much hipper by today’s standards. Some of his investments include Foursquare and Spotify. He also bought into Skype before it became popular. Even if he hadn’t gotten rich off his romantic comedies, that well-timed investment would have made him extremely wealthy.
Actors have to do more than just sit around looking attractive when they’re between films. What other celebrities have you seen participating in side projects?

Arnold Schwarzenegger is an American icon, but his roots go way back to his childhood in Austria. ESPN’s acclaimed “30 for 30″ series returns this week, but this time around they’ve added “30 for 30 Shorts” that can be seen at Grantland, and the first installment cover’s Arnold’s early years in Austria. “Arnold’s Blueprint” is a 12-minute film focusing on his teenage years in the Austrian Army as he used the sport of bodybuilding to turn himself into an international celebrity. We’ve embedded the video below so you can watch it here.

The estimate for this year’s attendance at the Arnold Sports Festival (ASF) was 175,000. Well, it seems that there is no end in sight for the popularity of this weekend event. Even the most conservative estimate I’ve heard was that over 200,000 people had shown up to enjoy the festivities.

It’s easy to understand how the ASF has grown year after year. Once you attend the event, you just have to go the following year while encouraging others to make the trek to Columbus, Ohio.

The ASF, with more than 18,000 athletes competing in more than 45 sports and events, is the largest multi-sport event in the USA. It all began when Arnold Schwarzenegger was invited by Jim Lorimer to compete in Columbus in the 1970 Mr. World Contest. Arnold of course won, and their friendship began. Arnold vowed that once he retired from competition he would promote bodybuilding in Ohio with Jim Lorimer.

Arnold kept his word, and together their passion for fitness has spanned four decades. In 1989, the Arnold Classic and the Miss International brought professional bodybuilding to Columbus, Ohio. The event’s growth and popularity spawned the birth of the Arnold Fitness EXPO (AFE) in 1993.

The AFE is the largest health and fitness expo in the USA, and is a must see. At $10.00 in advance, and $15.00 at the door, it’s the best value in sports entertainment. This year featured 700 booths of the latest in sports equipment, apparel and nutrition. The AFE attracts the top companies in the industry who put together elaborate displays.

STS is a brand you can trust

The Expo stage hosts the Arnold Strongman Classic, the prejudging for the Ms. International, the Fitness International and the Figure International Competitions. Other highlights include Arnold Armwrestling, the Arnold Amateur Strongman and the Arnold Amateur Bodybuilding finals.

A fitting tribute to an MMA Legend, Randy Couture

Me with world champion bodybuilder and owner of Labrada Nutrition, Lee Labrada

With more than 3,000 men and women competing in 23 martial arts disciplines, the Arnold Martial Arts Festival is the largest in the Midwest.

The US Olympic Team Trials and the 2012 National Championships for weightlifting were nothing short of impressive. More than 200 athletes competed in 15 bodyweight categories.

Top 5:

1st Yaxeni Oriquen Garcia #2

2nd Debi Laszewski #14

3rd Alina Popa #13

4th Cathy LeFrancois #1

5th Kim Buck #3

Cathy LeFrancois, Yaxeni Oriquen Garcia, Kim Buck

Top 5:

1st Adela Garcia #5

2nd Camala Rodriquez #8

3rd Oksana Grishina #10

4th Bethany Cisternino #3

5th Tanji Johnson #2

Top 5:

1st Nicole Wilkins #9

2nd Erin Stern #1

3rd Candice Keene #10

4th Ava Cowan #7

5th Heather Dees #12

Ava Cowan, Erin Stern, Nicole Wilkins, Candice Keene

Top 5:

1st Mike Jenkins

2nd Derek Poundstone

3rd Zydrunas Savickas

4th Brian Shaw

5th Michael Burke

Mike Jenkins, 2012 Champion

As you can tell, The 2012 ASF was again an incredibly successful event. In order for me to report on all the highlights, this article would have to be 10 times as long. If you get the chance, go ahead and make your travel arrangements for next year’s ASF. I know I’ll be there.

The estimate for this year’s attendance at the Arnold Sports Festival (ASF) was 175,000. Well, it seems that there is no end in sight for the popularity of this weekend event. Even the most conservative estimate I’ve heard was that over 200,000 people had shown up to enjoy the festivities.

It’s easy to understand how the ASF has grown year after year. Once you attend the event, you just have to go the following year while encouraging others to make the trek to Columbus, Ohio.

The ASF, with more than 18,000 athletes competing in more than 45 sports and events, is the largest multi-sport event in the USA. It all began when Arnold Schwarzenegger was invited by Jim Lorimer to compete in Columbus in the 1970 Mr. World Contest. Arnold of course won, and their friendship began. Arnold vowed that once he retired from competition he would promote bodybuilding in Ohio with Jim Lorimer.

Arnold kept his word, and together their passion for fitness has spanned four decades. In 1989, the Arnold Classic and the Miss International brought professional bodybuilding to Columbus, Ohio. The event’s growth and popularity spawned the birth of the Arnold Fitness EXPO (AFE) in 1993.

The AFE is the largest health and fitness expo in the USA, and is a must see. At $10.00 in advance, and $15.00 at the door, it’s the best value in sports entertainment. This year featured 700 booths of the latest in sports equipment, apparel and nutrition. The AFE attracts the top companies in the industry who put together elaborate displays.

STS is a brand you can trust

The Expo stage hosts the Arnold Strongman Classic, the prejudging for the Ms. International, the Fitness International and the Figure International Competitions. Other highlights include Arnold Armwrestling, the Arnold Amateur Strongman and the Arnold Amateur Bodybuilding finals.

A fitting tribute to an MMA Legend, Randy Couture

Me with world champion bodybuilder and owner of Labrada Nutrition, Lee Labrada

With more than 3,000 men and women competing in 23 martial arts disciplines, the Arnold Martial Arts Festival is the largest in the Midwest.

The US Olympic Team Trials and the 2012 National Championships for weightlifting were nothing short of impressive. More than 200 athletes competed in 15 bodyweight categories.

Top 5:
1st Yaxeni Oriquen Garcia #2
2nd Debi Laszewski #14
3rd Alina Popa #13
4th Cathy LeFrancois #1
5th Kim Buck #3

Cathy LeFrancois, Yaxeni Oriquen Garcia, Kim Buck

Top 5:
1st Adela Garcia #5
2nd Camala Rodriquez #8
3rd Oksana Grishina #10
4th Bethany Cisternino #3
5th Tanji Johnson #2

Top 5:
1st Nicole Wilkins #9
2nd Erin Stern #1
3rd Candice Keene #10
4th Ava Cowan #7
5th Heather Dees #12

Ava Cowan, Erin Stern, Nicole Wilkins, Candice Keene

Top 5:
1st Mike Jenkins
2nd Derek Poundstone
3rd Zydrunas Savickas
4th Brian Shaw
5th Michael Burke

Mike Jenkins, 2012 Champion

As you can tell, The 2012 ASF was again an incredibly successful event. In order for me to report on all the highlights, this article would have to be 10 times as long. If you get the chance, go ahead and make your travel arrangements for next year’s ASF. I know I’ll be there.