Hollywood has delivered many great action stars over the years who have thrilled audiences with their day-saving skills. When most fans think of these heroes of the action genre, the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone usually come to mind first. But there are alternatives to the usual muscle-bound options.
Over the years, certain actors have come out of nowhere to become surprisingly good action heroes. These actors were previously known for very different roles, but they managed to step into the world of action movies convincingly. Some of them went back to the roles they were known for while others stayed in the action genre and made new careers for themselves.
10 Adrien Brody
While the Predator franchise has struggled to live up to the original 1987 movie, 2010's Predators is actually a pretty fun sequel. But when it came to finding the right leading man who would lead the newest team of badasses against the alien enemy, Adrien Brody was the surprising choice.
Though an Oscar-winning actor by this time, Brody was seen as a slender dramatic actor known for intense dramas like The Pianist. However, Brody packed on some muscles and a six-pack to convincingly play the tough mercenary who headlines this sci-fi action romp.
9 Charlize Theron
Like Brody, Charlize Theron was already an acclaimed Oscar-winning actor by the time she stepped into the action movie sphere. She had stunned audiences with powerful performances in projects like Monster and North Country while occasionally taking part in a genre movie here or there.
It wasn't until Mad Max: Fury Road that Theron's action star credentials were solidified. After stealing the show as Furiosa, she went on to kick more ass in Atomic Blonde and The Old Guard, making her one of the best action stars working today.
8 Owen Wilson
There are probably a lot of fans who still have trouble seeing Owen Wilson as an action star. While it is not a genre he explores often, he has considerable talent for it. As he gained popularity with goofy comedies like Zoolander and Shanghai Noon, Wilson took the action lead in Behind Enemy Lines.
The underrated 2001 action movie has Wilson playing a fighter pilot shot down over hostile territory and trying to get home safely. While he gets to do a bit of the charming comedy, Wilson plays it mostly straight and brings a nice everyman quality to the role.
7 Keanu Reeves
Currently, Keanu Reeves is an action movie icon, so it's easy to forget that there was a time when the idea of him in an action movie was laughable. However, Reeves first gained popularity as the lovable doofus in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
Reeves was able to parlay his surfer-bro persona over to a role in the classic actioner, Point Break. From there, Reeves became the king of '90s action movies, starring in Speed and The Matrix. He shows no signs of slowing down either as his role as John Wick is one of the most popular action heroes of all time.
6 Colin Firth
The brilliance of seeing Colin Firth cast in a movie like Kingsman is that it was totally different than the roles he was known for yet used that reputation to great effect. Firth plays Harry, the gentlemanly agent of a top-secret spy organization known as Kingsman.
Firth plays the classy Englishman role perfectly as he was popular in British costume dramas as the romantic lead. But when he is also shown dispensing a room full of people in a wild action scene, it makes it that much more enjoyable.
5 Will Smith
Like Keanu Reeves, Will Smith has been a staple of the action movie genre for so long that it's hard to remember a time when he seemed like an odd choice for such a role. Of course, all fans have to do is remember back in the early '90s when Will Smith was the Fresh Prince.
Smith's persona as the family-friendly rapper/goofy sitcom star quickly evaporated when he showed off his skills in Michael Bay's Bad Boys. The rest was history as Smith became an action movie superstar and a box office giant.
4 Saoirse Ronan
Saoirse Ronan is one of those actors whose foray into action movies was brief but very effective. As Ronan was still a young child actor making a name for herself, she starred in the titular role in Hanna. Ronan played the daughter of a CIA agent who was trained to be the ultimate weapon for revenge.
Ronan's skills as an actor allowed her to balance the different aspects of the character. She was a badass warrior as well as a vulnerable kid. Despite her young age, Ronan was fantastic in the intense action scenes. Here's hoping she returns to the genre before long.
3 Liam Neeson
While Hollywood was trying to make these young actors Hollywood's latest action star, Liam Neeson came along and proved age doesn't matter as much as people think. Neeson was already a very accomplished actor at the time, but he was known for intense dramas like Schindler's List. No one could have seen Taken coming.
Neeson perfectly used his serious persona in the role of a badass dad on a mission to save his kidnapped daughter. Not only did the role kick-start Neeson's second career as an action star, but it inspired a trend of older actors stepping into action movies.
2 Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt is a very versatile actor so perhaps it's not too surprising that she was able to become an action hero as well. However, in the midst of her various period dramas and light-hearted comedies, Blunt had a string of action hero roles that made her one of the most promising modern action stars.
Movies like Looper, Edge of Tomorrow, and Sicario allowed Blunt to play the badass but in very different roles. She was able to turn these parts into something a lot more compelling than what is seen in most action movies.
1 Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage has had one of the most interesting careers in Hollywood and there was a time where the idea of his becoming an action hero would have sounded insane. Cage began his career by playing a lot of eccentric roles in some very versatile movies.
It wasn't until the '90s, following Cage's Oscar-winning role for Leaving Las Vagas that he decided to try the action movie route. Following roles in The Rock, Face/Off, and Con Air, Cage was established as the latest Hollywood action hero much to everyone's surprise.
from ScreenRant - Feed https://ift.tt/3cg0OMb
via IFTTT
0 comments:
Post a Comment