We gathered a list of great athletes who had an opportunity to make a second career in cinema with their films.
Being the best at sports is a difficult thing, especially when you want to participate in championships. It requires sacrifices and constant pressure, but on the other hand, it gives recognition, glory, large contracts, fans, people who count on your skills and bet on you on NetBet Sport, as well as high salaries. Respectively, the profession of being an actor can be quite challenging, too. In fact, in order to make a living this way, you’ll need to work very hard at it.
There are, however, cases of people who started in sports making a career for themselves there, then passed onwith great success into the field of cinema. Below, we’ll discuss a few of them today.
Vinnie Jones
Source: mirror.co.uk
If you think Materazzi was a tough defender, you probably don’t know Vinnie Jones. Ax-defender reached the National Team of Wales while he made a career playing in Leeds, Sheffield, Wimbledon, and Chelsea, staying in history for the moment when he twisted Paul G’s genitals with his hand. So, Guy Ritchie needed such a guy when he made his epic film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998. That part gave him recognition and gave him a lot of roles in plenty of B-movies before reaching mainstream acclaim when he played the role of Jagernout in The X Men.
Terry Crews
Source: oakland.edu
One of the most likable giants in the movie and television scene is Terry Crews, who was a great American football player, making an important career in the NFL playing for the LA Rams and the San Diego Chargers. Fortunately for the rest of us, he quickly made his way to the movies, starring in many like, Deadpool 2, Blonde Chicks, Sorry to Bother You, and The Expendables. However, he has entered our hearts for his epic role as Terry Jeffords in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which made us love even yogurt, for his sake.
Gina Carano
Source: deseret.com
MMA and UFC athlete Gina Carano beat unfortunate opponents in the ring where she had learned to star. There she was unveiled by Steven Soderberg, giving her the lead role in Haywire alongside Michael Fassbender and Juan McGregor. This was followed by her appearances in Deadpool and one of the sequels of Fast and the Furious before taking on one of the leading roles in the Mandalorian series. After she made a series of anti-Semitic and extreme conspiracy statements, she was thrown out of the cast.
Eric Cantona
Source: thetalkingmoose.com
Perhaps he is the most typical and badass case on the list. One of the most important players to step on the pitch in the 1980s and 1990s on the European pitch was Manchester United’s natural leader. Quirky, eccentric, he was always truthful in his statements, which is why he quickly became one of the most popular French actors of recent years when he ended his football career. We will always single out his incredible performance in Ken Loach’s heartbreaking Looking for Eric and Human Resources that you must see as soon as you can.
Dolph Lundgren
Source: themoviedb.org
The Swedish player Ivan Drago who haunted our childhood memories in Rocky 4, before he got involved in cinema, was a champion in karate, even winning the European Championship of 1980-1981. His physique and wild presentation gave him the opportunity to play dozens of roles in anthropometric adventures, while he even played He-Man in an award-winning film adaptation of the Masters of the Universe on the big screen. We will remember him for the tears that filled our eyes, in Creed 2, like an old Drago.
Johnny Weissmuller
Source: britannica.com
Johnny Weissmuller was an American swimming champion who dominated the 1920s, with 67 world records and five Olympic gold medals. He was the lord of the pool. In 1929 he debuted in the cinema with the comedy Glorifying the American Girl in the role of Adonis. Two years later, he signed a seven-year contract with MGM to star in the role of Tarzan that made him famous, with his scream becoming a trademark of film history. In the series Tarzan the Ape Man, the first film premiered in March 1932, and overnight, Johnny Weissmuller became a major star. He starred in 11 more films as Edgar Rice Burroughs, the literary hero. He was so tied with his role as Tarzan that even in his last days at the old age home he was repeating the Tarzan scream so they send him to his home. He died in 1984.
Carl Weathers
Source: syfy.com
Not only Ivan Drago but also Apollo Creed came from the field of sports before being in the same ring with Stallone. The very likeable Weathers left a great career in the NFL (American football championship) where he wore the Oakland Raiders jersey. Then there was the sequel Rocky, Predator and many other movies, before it was recorded in the memory of movie lovers once and for all like Apollo Crett running side by side with Stallone on the beach.
Some other athletes who successfully appeared in films are:
Source: freepik.com
Lebron James in the film Trainwreck in 2015
Lawrence Taylor in the film Any Given Sunday in 1999
Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the film Airplane in 1980
Jason Lee in the film Alvin And The Chipmunks in 2007
Ronda Rousey in the film Furious 7 in 2015
Terry Bradshaw in the film Failure To Launch in 2006
Ray Allen in the film He Got Game in 1998
Jim Brown in the film 100 Rifles in 1969
