If you look into the actors’ backgrounds these days, you will notice that many of them are hyphenates, meaning they had another job before joining the cinema industry. Most male actors in Hollywood used to participate in some form of the sport before debuting their acting careers.
One of the most common methods to becoming a superstar is through sports, and it’s not just actors that follow this path. One such case is Imran Khan, a Pakistani cricketer who became the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan. But he is not the reason you came to this list. Indeed, the main focus of this list is not politicians, but Hollywood actors.
For this list, we will only focus on male actors, as female actors with athletic backgrounds are few and far between. These 20 male actors made it big in Hollywood in part thanks to their experiences earlier in life. Let’s find out where that experience came from, shall we? A tiny heads-up: A lot of names on this list played football (a.k.a rugby).
#1 Arnold Schwarzenegger
Source: Gage Skidmore
Before becoming an iconic figure in Hollywood, Arnold was considered one of the greatest bodybuilders and fitness athletes of all time. This monument of a man hailing from Austria won a Mr. Universe title and some seven Mr. Olympia titles throughout his 20s.
#2 Burt Reynolds
Source: Alan Light
Burt was originally a footballer for Palm Beach High. A severe injury to the knee was all it took for him to switch to acting.
#3 Carl Weathers
Source: Luigi Novi
Just like Burt Reynolds, Carl Weathers also used to be a footballer, only for Oakland Raiders. Thankfully, he did not suffer a career-ending injury. This allowed him to put on boxing gloves and take on Rocky Balboa with ease.
#4 Dean Cain
Source: Miguel Discart
Dean Cain is another former footballer turned actor. The life-changing injury he suffered in a training camp is also a knee injury.
#5 Dwayne Johnson
Source: Eva Rinaldi Celebrity and Live Music Photographer
Dwayne Johnson was part of the Miami Hurricanes when the team won a national title in 1991. But he is better known for his time as a WWE pro wrestler. The Rock was one of the greatest wrestlers out there back in his heyday.
#6 Ed O’Neill
Source: iDominick
Yet another name on this list who used to play football: Ed O’Neill. This case is slightly different, though. He was cut from the Pittsburgh Steelers. That did not stop him from incorporating some elements of the sport into his acting career, however.
#7 Forest Whitaker
Source: Georges Biard
American football is a very high-risk sport. You can expect to see injuries everywhere. A lot of you may have noticed Whitaker’s drooping left eye and assumed that eye ended his football career. But in Whitaker’s own words, the drooping left eye is a birth defect and not an injury, though his career ended because of one of the latter.
#8 Jason Segel
Source: Dora Britt
A refreshing entry, at last. Segel was a basketball player for Harvard-Westlake, LA. Despite having the height of a basketball player (he is 6’4″ or 192cm), he felt more at home as an actor than playing basketball.
#9 Jason Statham
Source: MTV Interntional
Statham is a must-have for any action movie worth it is salt. He is the embodiment of toughness, and some of that toughness can be explained through his athletic history. He was part of Britain’s National Diving Squad and even participated in the 1990 Commonwealth Games, also as a diver.
#10 Joel McHale
Source: Gage Skidmore
Before being a footballer, Joel McHale was part of the University of Washington rowing team. Neither lasted, however, so he turned to an acting career and as a result, he made a name for himself.
#11 John Goodman
Source: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com
John Goodman earned a football scholarship around the same time he took a career-changing injury. He is now known as a regular collaborator with the Coen brothers. One of his best performances? We say The Big Lebowski.
#12 Jon Stewart
Source: Montclair Film Festival
This particular actor used to be known as Jon Leibowitz. His influence as an American soccer player led to the creation of an award bearing his name, which is “given to the men’s soccer player with the most positive influence on the team’s attitude.”
#13 Josh Duhamel
Source: Daniel Benavides
Josh Duhamel‘s most outstanding role is Colonel William Lennox from the Transformers franchise. But before becoming an actor, he spent two years playing for the Oregon Beavers. Here are his accomplishments within those two years: 1,242 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in 21 games.
#14 Mark Harmon
Source: Angela George
Mark Harmon took a liking to football from a young age. And it’s all thanks to Mark’s father, Tom Harmon, who was also a footballer. Tom even won a Heisman trophy for college footballers. This was the young Mark Harmon’s passion until he decided to switch to acting.
#15 Matthew Fox
Source: gdcgraphics
Matthew used to play for Columbia University. His team was on a losing streak around the time the actor is present. This losing streak greatly affected him, eventually leading him to move on to acting.
#16 Ronald Reagan
Source: Britannica
Yep, this is for real. The 40th president of the United States boasts a diverse career including acting, sports, and politics. Having been a footballer for Eureka College and an announcer for Chicago Cubs, the experiences proved valuable in helping Reagan land a film contract.
#17 Steve Austin
Source: Gage Skidmore
Stone Cold” Steve Austin is one of the top wrestlers of WWE during the Attitude Era. Before making his way into the wrestling world, Steve Austin played football for the University of North Texas. At some point, Austin decided to call it quits and got into wrestling.
#18 Terry Crews
Source: Gage Skidmore
Throughout his promising football career, Terry Crews played for a host of teams including the LA Rams, Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, and more. He retired in 1997 after 32 games to switch to acting.
#19 Tommy Lee Jones
Source: Dick Thomas Johnson
Tommy Lee Jones was playing for Harvard when the classic “Harvard beats Yale, 29-29” game of 1968 took place. The future Men In Black actor earned a 1st team All-Ivy League honor that same year. He joined the movie industry the next year.
Fun fact: Tommy Lee Jones shared the room with the would-be Vice President Al Gore.
#20 Vinnie Jones
Source: The Movie Database
What is the best word to describe Vinnie Jones‘ on-screen persona? It’s “tough”. This toughness can be traced back to his younger days. Vinnie Jones was a soccer player for several Premier League teams. But that’s not all. He is most remembered for being part of the “Crazy Gang”.
