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Actors Against Acting Athletes...and a history of athletes that have tried their hand at acting.

post #1 of 37
6/20/12 at 11:37am
Thread Starter 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIaWo-BlBjs&feature=player_embedded

 

So, Gary Oldman recorded this humorous ad where he goes off on athletes trying to seriously act, reasoning that he would not try to use his fame as an excuse to participate in professional sports.  I thought that this could be a worthy discussion:  which actors have successfully acted, and which ones have not?  Obviously, some professional athletes are useful for the stereotypical "tough henchmen" roles, but what about serious, front-and-center ones?

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post #2 of 37
6/20/12 at 12:02pm

Gina Carano did ok.  Heheheh.

 

Keith Hernandez.  I DESPIIIIIISE HIM.  

 

Ok, to be serious... it's been a LONG time since I've seen it, but I recall Ray Allen being ok in He Got Game.  He wasn't the lead, but it was a prominent cast member.

 

I guess I wonder if you can count someone like The Rock, for whom performing/acting is as key to his profession as his athleticism.

 

Just remembered that Vinnie Jones was a football/soccer player.

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post #3 of 37
6/20/12 at 12:04pm
Doesn't this dicussion begin and end with Kurt Thomas?

GYMKATA!!!
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post #4 of 37
6/20/12 at 12:16pm
Another one: Mitch Gaylord in AMERICAN ANTHEM. At least that one kinda made sense. The plot actually involved having the main character be a gymnast. Shitty as the film was, the gymnastics were authentic in a way that a real actor would have a hard time duplicating. GYMKATA is just ridiculous from a conceptual point of view. Even Olivier on his best day wouldn't have been able to make that one work.
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post #5 of 37
6/20/12 at 12:25pm

Jouko Ahola (Finnish strongman and powerlifter) in Herzog's Invincible.

 

He may have been a bit flat at times, but it fit the character. He carried himself with an undeniably sense of goodness and decency. He wasn't the most charismatic person in the film (that would be Roth), but somehow he was the most human. It might not be world class acting, but it was great casting. He felt very natural in the lead.

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post #6 of 37
6/20/12 at 12:26pm

Clearly, Gary Oldman never followed the acting career of Shaq or saw the masterpiece that is Steel.

 

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post #7 of 37
6/20/12 at 12:34pm

Seems like if you're going to talk about this, you have address this guy in some way:

 

2008-08-08-Arnold_Schwarzenegger.jpg

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post #8 of 37
6/20/12 at 12:35pm

This one guy Arnold Schwarzensomething did pretty well for himself, I've read. This was back in the 80s, did some genre work.

 

GODDAMMIT SCHWARTZ

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post #9 of 37
6/20/12 at 12:49pm

This guy right here -

 

1965Topps152FWilliamson250w.jpg.jpeg

 

Not to mention Jim Brown, Carl Weathers and Woody Strode. 

 

And how about actors turned athletes like Geena Davis and... Mickey Rourke?

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post #10 of 37
6/20/12 at 1:09pm

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRG9M4tI9Y3oBZMib3mM_S8Bt6w_JBRp-UPw2JxnJym4WMt14kAvAW-8Xbr

 

 

O.J. Simpson had a decent run as an athlete turned actor, before he opted to become an athlete turned actor turned murderer.

 

ETA: He might not count, having never gone professional:

 

LVZBRHN2UG56alEx_o.jpg

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post #11 of 37
6/20/12 at 1:11pm

I know this doesn't count for what this thread is really about but I never miss an excuse to drop the fact that Woody Allen was a very good baseball and basketball player.

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post #12 of 37
6/20/12 at 1:42pm
Johnny Weissmuller was the definitive Tarzan for many hears and many films.

Steve Reeves, like Arnold, came from a bodybuilding background. For better or for worse, he's always honna be the definitive Hercules. Same wirh Lou Derrihno and rhe Hulk, although Lou also appeared in other films and tv shows.
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post #13 of 37
6/20/12 at 1:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trav McGee View Post

 

ETA: He might not count, having never gone professional:

 

LVZBRHN2UG56alEx_o.jpg

 

 

Tommy Lee Jones and Dean Cain were Ivy League football players - Cain actually had a cup of coffee in the NFL. 

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post #14 of 37
6/20/12 at 1:57pm

Jason Statham was a world-class diver.

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post #15 of 37
6/20/12 at 1:58pm

Kurt Russell was a pretty good minor league baseball player for the Angels before injuring his shoulder.

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post #16 of 37
6/20/12 at 2:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chavez View Post
 
Cain actually had a cup of coffee in the NFL. 

 

I remember the Bills (who he was with before suffering a career-ending injury) using him as a game-day honorary captain a few times once Lois & Clark hit big.

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post #17 of 37
6/20/12 at 2:55pm

Did anyone else suddenly crap their pants (in a good way) when Oldman started to go Crazy Bad Guy In Leon on us?

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post #18 of 37
6/20/12 at 3:01pm

"He doesn't have TIIIIIIIME... for this MickeyMouseBOOLSHEEET!"

 

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxenbwDRAB1qaliojo1_500.gif

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post #19 of 37
6/20/12 at 3:07pm
Andre The Giant wowed audiences with his star turn in The Princess Bride. Great casting, great role, amazing human being.
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post #20 of 37
6/20/12 at 3:09pm

Jim Brown, Bernie Casey....

 

Taylor Kitsch played in the BCHL.
 

Reynolds did play for Florida, and I remember Robert Urich (also a Florida alum who attended on a football scholarship) making a joke about him on Tom Snyder years ago, how Burt's career stacked up to something like two carries for seven yards.

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post #21 of 37
6/20/12 at 4:38pm

Yeah well Oldman has a point if he's comparing a top-of-his-game brilliant actor vs. athlete of any level of (athletic) talent. That's different from being a Movie or TV star, where the man or woman's personality and/or innate charisma are the appeal.

 

I mean, would you really want to watch this version of Hamlet? (No you wouldn't. You really wouldn't).

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post #22 of 37
6/20/12 at 4:52pm

Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long need a little love.

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post #23 of 37
6/20/12 at 8:21pm

Oh shit, we're all forgetting Alex Karras and his Mongo/George Papadapoulous resume. 

 

 

Bubba Smith as Moses Hightower in the Police Academy movies. 

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post #24 of 37
6/20/12 at 10:34pm

 I was surprised it took 20 posts to get to Jim Brown. He was awesome in The Dirty Dozen.

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post #25 of 37
6/21/12 at 5:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cylon Baby View Post

 

I mean, would you really want to watch this version of Hamlet? (No you wouldn't. You really wouldn't).

 

Me, good sir. Opening day, with my cock in my hand.

 

 

And further to what mcnooj was saying: Ever wondered why Vinnie Jones segued from a career in soccer to playing crude, ruthless thugs in movies and nobody bat an eyelid?

 

 

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRqJbPmlfzQd9W12KvHomT6y5TW-DS28X5KnHnzfV2IiiEpHSEA


Edited by Workyticket - 6/21/12 at 5:25am
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post #26 of 37
6/21/12 at 6:43am

We're seriously this far into this thread without this guy?

 

WMU+crews.jpg

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post #27 of 37
6/23/12 at 10:31am

A lot of guys in Any Given Sunday got proper cred, but I never understood why people didn't talk about Lawrence Taylor in that film. He was really incredible and brought much-needed honesty to what seemed, on paper, to be a thankless role. Surprised he didn't catch on a little after that.

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post #28 of 37
6/23/12 at 2:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnooj82 View Post

 

I guess I wonder if you can count someone like The Rock, for whom performing/acting is as key to his profession as his athleticism.

 

 

He won a national championship as a part of UM's football team.  Dude's an athlete.

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post #29 of 37
6/23/12 at 2:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post

Even Olivier on his best day wouldn't have been able to make that one work.

 

Yeah, but Olivier was shit on the pommel horse.

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post #30 of 37
6/23/12 at 2:56pm

Gina Carano made me fall in love with her despite not being a very good actress in Haywire. That counts for something, right?

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post #31 of 37
6/23/12 at 3:01pm

Not a very good actress!?  Bite your tongue!

 

or...

 

 1d64021b_gina-carano.gif

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post #32 of 37
6/23/12 at 3:16pm

universe_3rd.jpg

Sean Connery competed for the Mr. Universe title in the 50s.

Burt Lancaster was a star athlete before going into acting.

 

 

sjj1-sized.jpg

Played semi-pro football.

 

Mark Harmon was quarterback for the Bruins in the 70s.

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post #33 of 37
6/23/12 at 3:31pm

Let's not forget about Dustin Hoffman: Master of the Throwing Javelin.

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post #34 of 37
6/23/12 at 3:40pm

And, of course, John Belushi: Decathlete

 

belushi.jpg

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post #35 of 37
6/24/12 at 3:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarleyQuinn22 View Post

 

He won a national championship as a part of UM's football team.  Dude's an athlete.

 

 

He also played I think one season up in Canada. 

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post #36 of 37
6/24/12 at 5:09pm

The Duke, John Wayne, played college football for USC.

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post #37 of 37
6/24/12 at 6:09pm

Cary Grant played quite effectively for two different teams.

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