It’s never been possible to predict the course of an actor’s career years in advance,
but these days, blockbuster franchises can turn the unlikeliest men and women into certified
action stars.
No one expected to see the lovable Chris Pratt make the leap from Parks and Rec to the buff
star of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World.
But he’s just the latest in the long line of actors who have transition from comedy
or drama to blockbuster action, and never looked back.
Here are Screen Rant’s 10 Unlikely Action Movie Stars.
Will Smith
The Fresh Prince got his start rockin’ the house in one corner of his homebase in the
late 1980s before landing his own TV show.
Known more for his comedy skills, he wasn’t exactly the type of actor you expect to go
see guns blazing against a backdrop of explosions and mayhem.
But 1995 saw him teaming up with Michael Bay and Martin Lawrence for Bad Boys, and he’s
kept up his action chops ever since with films like Independence Day, Wild, Wild, West,
I Am Legend, I, Robot and the upcoming Suicide Squad.
But no matter what, he’ll always be Uncle Phil’s troublemaking nephew to us.
Kate Beckinsale
After starting her career in the UK in the early 1990s, Kate Beckinsale managed to leverage
the exposure she enjoyed in Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing into roles in films
like The Last Days of Disco, and 2001’s Pearl Harbor.
But Beckinsale did away with her celebrity persona to star as the gun-wielding vampire
‘Selene’ in Underworld, a slick Gothic actioner that ballooned into a four-film franchise.
She hasn’t made a habit of appearing in many action films since, but seeing her show
up in films like Total Recall always reminds us she has just as much action experience
as her male co-stars.
Matt Damon
Starring in 1997’s Good Will Hunting – and earning an Oscar for writing it, too – Matt
Damon was immediately cemented as an award level talent on the rise.
Roles soon followed in other acclaimed, high-profile dramas like Saving Private Ryan and The Talented
Mr. Ripley.
But a few years later, Damon decided to try something outside his comfort zone: the role
of CIA Assassin Jason Bourne.
Today, Damon still A-lists with the best of them, but when he’s not starring in pictures
like True Grit, and The Departed, he’s more than happy to sling guns in films like Elysium.
Zoe Saldana
Having practically cornered the market on mainstream sci-fi these days, with turns in
James Cameron’s Avatar and J.J.
Abrams’ Star Trek, it’s tempting to forget Zoe Saldana’s skills in big screen action,
as well.
The Losers and Colombiana didn’t set the movie world on fire, but the actress showed
how just capable she is when the bullets and blades start flying.
As Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy, Saldana reaffirmed her penchant for playing lethal,
morally grey anti-heroines.
However, her early filmography betrays her contemporary interests: Drumline, Center Stage,
and a supporting role in Britney Spears’ Crossroads aren’t exactly early indicators
of a late-stage turn toward kicking ass, but Saldana pulled it off all the same.
Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis is practically the definition of “action hero” these days, having established
himself as one of the biggest action stars of all time with the Die Hard series and a
slew of films ranging from The Fifth Element to The Last Boy Scout.
But Willis’ made his name in comedic films and TV shows like Blind Date and Moonlighting.
Even after Die Hard 2 hit theaters, Willis would appear in comedies like Death Becomes
Her and Bonfire of the Vanities.
Today, it’s almost impossible to distinguish him from his action persona, but there was
a time when the very idea of putting Willis in such a film would have been laughable.
Nicolas Cage
It’s easy to imagine a world where Nicholas Cage never starred in The Rock , Con Air,
or Face/Off –instead focusing on more comedies like Raising Arizona, Fast Times at Ridgemont
High, and Vampire’s Kiss (among many, many others).
But The Rock secured Cage’s name in the realm of big screen action above all other
genres.
Even today, he’s sure to show up in the odd Kick-Ass, Ghost Rider or Drive Angry alongside
indie films like Joe, eclectic offerings like Adaptation, or thrillers like Matchstick Men.
There was a time when action films were his bread and butter, but now it’s best to forget
about designations like “action star” or “comic actor” altogether.
Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman first began her professional career as a model, but she cut the indelible image
of Beatrix Kiddo into audiences’ brains at the end of a Hanzo sword with both of Quentin
Tarantino’s Kill Bill films.
Hard to imagine her on the catwalk when she seemed so at ease lopping off limbs and plucking
out eyeballs.
Yet there was once a time when Thurman wasn’t a vengeance-fueled martial arts master.
She played Venus in Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and helped
Timothy Hutton get his life back on track in Beautiful Girls.
No wonder her transformation into a hardened killer (and desperate mother) for Tarantino’s
violent homage to kung fu and Western cinema took viewers by surprise.
Keanu Reeves
Starring in Speed, The Matrix and its subsequent sequels made Keanu a fixture in action cinema
for all time, with his most famous lines as the mystical Neo now summing up his entire
career.
Before all that, though, viewers knew Reeves for his laid back surfer dude persona, and
his early history with teen films and dark comedies.
Reeves didn’t look, act, or sound like an action hero – but when he packed on the
pounds and shed his hair for Speed in 1993, he wound up assuming that mantle anyways.
To this day, Reeves continues taking on non-action oriented projects – like The Lake House,
Side by Side, and A Scanner Darkly – but hard-hitting action films like John Wick and
Man of Tai Chi keep his action cred intact.
Scarlett Johansson
The once and future Black Widow first drew wide notice for her talents in another comic
book movie: the low-scale indie film Ghost World, and earned even more praise years later
for her performances in Lost in Translation and The Girl with the Pearl Earring.
Johansson started dabbling in action in Michael Bay’s 2005 film The Island, but in 2010,
she became part of the Marvel family with Iron Man 2, going from small supporting roles
to blockbuster notoriety.
Now, she’s making a name for herself as a full-blown action heroine – not only in
The Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but even a starring role in Luc Besson’s
Lucy.
Liam Neeson
This towering Irish actor busted a skull or two in his day before ever bringing his particular
set of skills to the Taken series, limited to supporting roles in Excalibur and Krull.
But Neeson defined himself as a dramatic actor through his work in projects like The Mission,
Michael Collins, and Schindler’s List.
His gravitas was undeniable.
Now, he sports a chip on his shoulder that fuels his pummeling of European thugs (Taken),
and parachuting a tank out of an airplane (the A-Team).
It seems that Rob Roy has gone from fighting English aristocrats to wrestling wolves.
Whatever fueled the shift of genres, it’s working – and action fans get to reap the
benefits.
So what do you think of our list?
Did we miss any actors or actresses who defied the odds to become believable action stars?
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