Famous Actors Who Started Out As Athletes

It seems like nearly everyone in Hollywood is a hyphenate these days — actors are singers, singers are actors, and just about every form of talent is hawking something on Instagram. Crossover between different entertainment fields has ramped up, but that is nothing new, and neither is the crossover between athletics and Tinseltown. Good athletes are, after all, able to work grueling hours, take direction and critique, and block out distractions — all key skills for actors, as well.

While not all athletes are gifted thespians, a fair number have been able to hit it big on-screen. For some, the evolution has been slow: taking gigs here and there as they remained vested in their sport until they hit retirement. For others — especially wrestlers who, it could be argued, already do a fair share of acting as part of their in-ring persona — there has been a balance between athletics and acting. Here are some of the most famous actors who started out as professional athletes before going on to excel in film and television.

After being drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 1991, linebacker Terry Crews spent five years in the NFL playing for the Los Angeles Rams, the Washington Redskins, and the San Diego Chargers before deciding to call it quits in 1996 (at the time, he was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles' practice squad). According to Business Insider, Crews then struggled to make a living wage, so he swept floors to get by. With a graphic design background (per Sports Illustrated), acting was not the logical choice for a next move, but it has proven to be lucrative for Crews, who in 2021 received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Crews started his film career with very small roles before breaking out as Damon in 2002's "Friday After Next." His rising fame led to progressively larger parts in films, including all of the movies in "The Expendables" franchise, and eventually, major success in television and voice acting. Crews has been a series regular on several multi-season sitcoms including "Everybody Hates Chris," "Are We There Yet?", and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." The "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "America's Got Talent" host is an author, too. He wrote memoirs "Manhood" and "Tough," tweeting about the latter volume: "I wrote this book for anyone who considers themselves 'tough' but feels unfulfilled. Who struggles with procrastination or self-sabotage. Who is ready to achieve true, lasting self-mastery and strength." Crews has also memorably starred in a series of Old Spice commercials, which he started doing in 2010.

It is a well-known fact that before he was an action movie legend or the governor of California (still weird), Arnold Schwarzenegger was a notable bodybuilder with a series of titles under his belt. Schwarzenegger became active in the sport as a teenager and, per his Bodybuilding.com profile, first competed in the Steirer Hof Competition in Graz, Austria, in 1963. Two years later, he became "Junior Mr. Europe," followed by "Mr. Europe." By age 20, Schwarzenegger had become "the youngest person ever to win the 'Mr. Universe' title" for bodybuilding, according to his own website. In total, the Austrian icon earned seven "Mr. Olympia" titles, won five "Mr. Universe" competitions, and took home several other awards in between.

Even before he stopped competing professionally in 1980, Schwarzenegger had begun to establish himself as a thespian with roles in "Hercules in New York" and "Scavenger Hunt," and guest stints on "The Streets of San Francisco" and other television series. His big acting break was 1982's "Conan the Barbarian," which led to an ill-fated "Conan" sequel and the legendary role of "Terminator" in the franchise's first film in 1984. 

Schwarzenegger earned his reputation as a bankable movie star and capitalized on the booming success of the action genre in the 1980s and '90s, starring in "Predator," "Total Recall," "True Lies," and "Eraser." He's also demonstrated his proficiency in comedy, appearing in "Twins," "Kindergarten Cop," and holiday classic "Jingle All the Way" (the Turbo Man toy was not forgotten).

Like his father Kurt, Wyatt Russell (whose mother is star Goldie Hawn and whose half-siblings are actors Kate and Oliver Hudson) has had major accomplishments in both acting and sports. The younger Russell's sport of choice is hockey, which he has played both domestically and abroad. According to his Elite Prospects stats, Russell has played for a variety of professional teams, including the Brampton Capitals, Coquitlam Express, and Langley Hornets (Canadian teams) and the Chicago Steel. The goaltender also played college hockey at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and a season for the Pecoma Grizzlies Groningen, a hockey team in The Netherlands.

Like many pro athletes, injuries cut Russell's career short and, after retiring in 2010, he took after his family and decided to break into show business. His first acting role of note was in an episode of the short-lived "Law & Order: L.A.," and he gained further notice when he played a flirty hockey player in Judd Apatow's "This Is 40" — a job that required his athletic knowledge as early as the audition (as he told the NHL). He followed this up with more small film roles and television guest spots before landing a leading role in "Lodge 49," a television series that ran for two seasons on AMC (from 2018 to 2019). His career reached new heights in 2021 when he appeared in the Disney+ Marvel miniseries "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier."

Video footage of Jason Statham diving has been making the rounds for years on the Internet and yet, many fans still do not know that the popular actor was once a professional sports star. Statham competed as a diver at the Commonwealth Games in 1990, but failed to medal in any of his three events. Though he didn't compete in the Olympic games — that's still "a bit of a sore point," he said to the Press Association (via the Independent) — he was reportedly once ranked "12th in the world for diving on the platform" (per IGN). Statham told the outlet that he sold wares on the streets of London, as diving was not lucrative. However, he spent a dozen years on the British national team, and it was during diving training that he was noticed by a modeling scout (via the Sydney Morning Herald).

A French Connection campaign led to a fateful introduction to Guy Ritchie, who then cast Statham in his breakthrough role in the film "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." Statham's film career blossomed from there, and he now has over 50 acting credits, including a few other Ritchie films. Like many athletes-turned-actors, Statham has overwhelmingly worked on action movies. In addition to starring in three "Transporter" movies, two "Crank" films, all of "The Expendables" movies, and a couple "Fast & Furious" flicks, Statham has made many appearances in standalone action/adventures and thrillers. These have included "The Italian Job" and "Safe," as well as the crime comedy "Spy." 

Though he made cameos in a couple of his father Denzel's films as a child, John David Washington's original career plan was to be an athlete, not an actor. He took up football at least partially to distance himself from his famous dad, once telling Sports Illustrated, "When I saw that it was about me and not my father, it was like a drug. I got addicted to that." He was good enough to play football at Morehouse College and was even signed to the St. Louis Rams at one point (though he never made it off the practice squad). He also played in the United Football League and, when that ended, was hoping for a second shot at the NFL when an injury put a kibosh on things (per Sports Illustrated).

Once football was officially off the table, Washington was approached by an old friend-turned-agent who recruited him for a main role in the HBO series "Ballers," which lasted for five seasons. It remains his only television gig to date, as Washington has instead chosen to focus his sights on the silver screen. His most acclaimed role has been in Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman," for which he was nominated at the Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Satellite Awards. His other film credits include action flick "Tenet," legal drama "Monster," and domestic drama "Malcolm & Marie." Washington reportedly makes his Broadway debut in 2022 in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson" (per Broadway World).

A fair number of hotshot basketball stars have tried to make it in the movies — take Shaquille O'Neal in "Kazaam" or Michael Jordan in "Space Jam" — but most NBA players have failed to achieve the level of acting success reached by athletes from other sports, such as wrestling or football. Rick Fox is an exception, as the former professional baller has established himself as competent actor over the last few decades. Per TV Guide, Fox was drafted into the NBA in 1991, playing first for the Boston Celtics and then later for the Los Angeles Lakers. He played in the league until 2004, but Fox started acting well before his retirement from sports.

Fox made his screen debut in 1994's "Blue Chips," which led to him being cast in films such as "Eddie" and "He Got Game." He also became active in television, appearing as a recurring character on series such as "Oz," "1-800-Missing," and "Love, Inc." Fox became even more involved in acting once he officially retired from the NBA. His later film credits include "Meet the Browns" and "Navy Seals vs. Zombies," but the overwhelming majority of his work has been on the small screen. He has been a series regular on "Mr. Box Office" and "Greenleaf," and has continued to make regular appearances in a variety of series as both a guest star and a recurring player. "I knew I'd be in the entertainment industry when I was done with my playing days," Fox told The Root in 2017.

According to Bleacher Report, Gina Carano played college sports, after which she became a pro Muay Thai fighter and began fighting in Elite Xtreme Combat MMA matches. Carano retired in 2009, per ESPN, and quickly settled into acting as her new battlefield. Her first film was "Blood and Bone," quickly followed by "Haywire" and, a couple years later, "Fast & Furious 6." Her acting career hit its peak in 2019, when she began appearing in the popular Disney+ original series "The Mandalorian." By all accounts, Carano's career was on the up and up — until it wasn't.

In early 2021, the actor became embroiled in scandal following her offensive social media post that compared modern-day Republicans to Jews in the time of the Holocaust, and Carano was then fired from her cushy gig on the space Western series. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the post speedily led to a trending #fireGinaCarano campaign and, because the studio behind the show (Lucasfilm) had been wary of Carano's controversial Twitter activity for a while, the scandal did her in. Just over a year later, Carano's career seems to be on the rebound, as the actor has several upcoming projects, according to her IMDb. The first of these, "Terror on the Prairie," is a film she produced for Conservative news outlet The Daily Wire (via Deadline).