By: David Davenport
Everyone when they were growing up would have a dream of what they would be. From being a Doctor, CEO, athlete, director, or actor we all had something we wanted to be when we grew up. Majority unfortunately don’t ever get to be what they wanted to be due to well, life. There are a few though that walk among us that got to live 2 dreams of their life. Where stars from the sport world cross the line into acting. I am not talking about just a cameo appearance, but a full fledge acting career. I do know there are some famous actors that had tryouts for team’s and took to acting instead like George Clooney with the Reds. Mark Harmon the star of NCIS was a starting QB for the UCLA bruins and lead them to a 17-5 record. But my criteria for this is one that played pro ball then went to acting. I will be going through each sport and providing some famous ones from their field that transferred into acting.
Professional Wrestling:
These guys ooze charisma every night they go out and sell their characters. Now some will say that this category isn’t fair due tho the fact that they go out and well..act. But I disagree due to the fact that these guys are athletes as well.
Hulk Hogan as Thunderlips Rocky II (Photo Credit: Laser Time)
Hulk Hogan and Andre the giant really got the train rolling for wrestlers to get into hollywood with Hogan getting a role as Thunderlips in Rocky III (1982) and Andre the giant getting a role as Fezzik in the princess bride.
Andre the giant as Fezzik in The Princess Bride ( Photo Credit: Businessinsider)
They help set in motion For the likes of Roddy Piper in They Live (1988), Jesse Ventura in Predator (1987), Mark Callaway AKA The Undertaker in Suburban Commando (1991), Paul Levesque AKA Triple H in Blade Trinity (2004) and Steve Austin in the Condemned (2007). The biggest one to step into hollywood is hand that Dwayne Johnson AKA The Rock
The Rock (Photo Credit: WWE)
Dwayne Johnson got his first acting gig with a shared movie project with WWE studios in the mummy return (2001) as that scorpion king. From there “The Rock” started his film career. his next stop was in a movie with Seaan Williams Scott called The Rundown (2003) Which got him his first top billed cast role. The following year he starred alongside Johnny Knoxville in the movie walking tall (2004) followed up Doom (2005) and Be Cool (2005) the rocks career was taking off and with that he changed his billing credits name to Dwayne Johnson. He slowly built his acting career and became a solid name in Hollywood. He has become a reoccurring actor for the Fast and Furious franchise as well as starring along side Kevin Heart in action comedy films. He also stars in a HBO series called Ballers as Spencer Strasmore a retired NFL player turned financlial manager. By the looks of his IMDB page, There is no slowing this wrestler turned mega star.
NFL:
The National Football League has brought us some names to Hollywood as well. Some after the get cut or retire go on and find a day job or they make the move to Hollywood.
Bubba Smith as Moses Hightower in Police Academy (Photo Credit: TMS Interactive)
Bubba smith spent 9 years in the NFL playing for the Baltimore Colts and the Oakland raiders, After the cleats were hanged up he pursued a career in film and is most notably known for his role as Moses Hightower in the Police academy films. Jim Brown who played for the Cleveland Browns had some good roles as well. His first role was as SGT. Ben Franklyn in the movie Rio Conchos (1964) he also starred in Mars Attacks! (1996) Any Giving Sunday (1999) and Draft day (2014) as himself, Others from the NFL that have joined these two in Hollywood are Mike Singletary in Kids unlimited (2007) Terry Bradshaw in The Cannonball Run (1981),
Terry Bradshaw in The Canonball Run (Photo Credit: The Ruthless Reviews)
O.J. Simpson in the Naked Gun Franchise, Sammy Baugh in King of the Texas Rangers (1941), Dan Marino in Ace Ventura: pet detective (1994). Some of these athletes have a long acting career, but for me the one that had the biggest impact in Carl Weathers.
Carl Weathers along side Sylvester Stallone in the Rocky Franchise (Photo Credit: Digital Spy)
Carl Weathers only spent a few games in the NFL, But that makes him eligible for this article. He got his start in acting with a billed credit in the six million dollar man (1974 TV series) from there he had minimal roles till he landed a role that would change everything for him. He landed the role of a lifetime as Apollo Creed a show boating boxer that would challenge the up and coming Rocky Balboa in the movie Rocky (1976) and would appear in the franchise up to Rocky IV (1985). He went on to star Alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura in Predator (1987). He also got the role of Chubbs the ex golfer who lost his hand to an alligator that would help mentor a hockey player turn golfer (Adam Sandler) in Happy Gilmore (1996).
NBA:
The National Basketball Association has brought a few starts to the big screen. From Ray Allen in he got game (1998) as Jesus Shuttlesworth, Kareem abdul jabbar in Airplane! (1980) and slam dunk Ernest (1995) as the archangel of basketball. Michael Jordan in space jam (1996)
Kareem Abdul Jabbar in Airplane! (Photo Credit IMDB)
Shaq in blue chips ( Photo Credit: Bacon Sports)
But the one with the most acting credits to his name is Shaquille O’Neal. He got his first part in a film called blue chips (1984) From there he starred in a movie called Kazaam (1996) He also had starring roles in Freddy got fingered (2001) alongside Tom Green and in scary movie 4 (2006) Grown Ups 2 (2013). Shaq never landed a “big time” role but by far has the most acting credits to his name. Shaq does ooze charisma maybe a big break will happen for the big man and bring more NBA stars to the big screen.
BodyBuilding:
The world of bodybuilding has brought us some memorable stars, and with their size and muscle why wouldn’t Hollywood look towards them. David Prowse landed a role with at the time a lesser known movie coming out. He portrayed Darth Vader in Star Wars (1977) while James Earl Jones did the voice of Darth Vader
David Prowse as Darth Vader in Star Wars (Photo Credit: Movie Pilot)
Steve Reeves landed the role of Hercules (1958) and Duel of the titans (1961), Lou Ferrigno as the hulk in the incredible hulk (1978 TV series)
Lou Ferrigno as the hulk (Photo Credit: Uproxx)
But the one actor that stood out among the rest, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold came to america from Austria and quickly Hollywood began to notice. He dominated the bodybuilding circuit by becoming a 5 time Mr. Universe and a 7 time Mr. Olympia.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (Photo Credit: Skinny2fit)
He then turned his sights to acting. He landed a role in a low-budget movie Hercules in New York (1970) and slowly worked his way up the ladder. He stared in films Stay Hungry (1976), The villain (1979) he then landed his big debut role in Conan the barbarian (1982). Schwarzenegger big debut came when James Cameron found Arnold and signed him on to play the Terminator in the sci-fi thriller The Terminator (1984)
Shwarzenegger in the Terminator (Photo Credit : Horror New Network)
From there the Austria actor became a staple for the action films for the late 80 and 90s. His next big role was in Predator (1987) which co-stared actors from this list Carl Weathers and future fellow governor Jesse Ventura. Twins (1988) Total Recall (1990) True lies (1994) and The Expendables Franchise. He took a break from movies during his run as Governor of California, But ultimately came back to film.
Other Sports Fields:
Jason Statham was a diver for the National Swimming Squad as a diver after failing to make the olympics he took to a career of acting and modeling he has appeared in Revolver (2005) The Italian Job (2003) Transporter (2002) and The Expendables Franchise.
Jason Statham Diving (Photo Credit: BBC)
Jason Lee was a professional skater from the late 80’s and early 90’s working with the likes of Tony Hawk. He has appeared in films Mallrats (1995) Vanilla Sky (2001) and the Alvin and the chipmunks Franchise. He is Best known for his role as Earl Hickey in My name is Earl TV series
Jason Lee skateboarding (Photo Credit: The Berrics)
ultimately it makes sense for these athletes to make a move to film. Some become household names over night in their sport and can move into an acting role if things don’t work out. Some have to work up the ladder in both fields to become a top billing star.Who know’s maybe someday we will see Tom Brady starring in a film instead of just a cameo.
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