Carl Weathers and the professional athletes who became actors
source: Getty Images Acting and sports have a lot in common. It takes a ton of body control to do either, both are consumed by millions, and the biggest stars usually have a ton of charisma. These are the athletes who broke out of their sports and became big stars in Hollywood.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
source: Getty Images Sport: Basketball
Team: Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers
Appeared In: Airplane!, The Game of Death, Diff’rent Strokes, 21 Jump Street, The Stand, Martin
Bob Uecker
source: Getty Images Sport: Baseball
Teams: Milwaukee Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves
Appeared In: Major League, Mr. Belvedere, Fatal Instinct
Eric Cantona
source: Getty Images Sport: Soccer
Teams: Auxerre, Marseille, Nimes, Leeds United, Manchester United
Appeared In: Elizabeth, The Salvation, Looking for Eric, You and the Night, The Mad Kings, Inhuman Resources
O.J. Simpson
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers
Appeared In: The Naked Gun franchise, The Towering Inferno, The Cassandra Crossing, A Killing Affair
Randall “Tex” Cobb
source: Getty Images Sport: Karate, Kickboxing
Appeared In: Raising Arizona, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Uncommon Valor, Walker, Texas Ranger, Ernest Goes To Jail
Ed O’Neill
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers
Appeared In: Married… With Children, Modern Family, Finding Dory, Wreck-It Ralph, The Bone Collector, Dragnet
Jim Brown
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Cleveland Browns
Appeared In: Mars Attacks!, Any Given Sunday, The Running Man, The Dirty Dozen, CHiPS, Rio Conchos, Knight Rider
John Cena
source: Getty Images Sport: Professional wrestling
Appeared In: The Suicide Squad, Blockers, Ferdinand, The Daddy’s Home franchise, Tour de Pharmacy, Barbie
Vinnie Jones
source: Getty Images Sport: Soccer
Teams: Wealdstone, Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelsea, Queens Park Rangers
Appeared In: Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, The Midnight Meat Train, X-Men: The Last Stand, Tooth, Galavant
Fred Dryer
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: New York Giants, Los Angeles Rams
Appeared In: Hunter, Land’s End, Death Before Dishonor, Cheers, The Kid from Nowhere
Roosevelt “Rosey” Grier
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: New York Giants, Los Angeles Rams
Appeared In: Half Nelson, The Thing with Two Heads, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Daniel Boone, In Cold Blood
Esther Williams
source: Getty Images Sport: Swimming
Appeared In: Neptune’s Daughter, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Million Dollar Mermaid, A Guy Named Joe, This Time for Keeps
Carl Weathers
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Oakland Raiders, BC Lions
Appeared In: The Rocky franchise, Predator, Arrested Development, Action Jackson, In the Heat of the Night, Happy Gilmore
Howie Long
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders
Appeared In: Broken Arrow, Firestorm, 3000 Miles to Graceland, King of the Hill
Rick Fox
source: Getty Images Sport: Basketball
Team: Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers
Appeared In: Oz, Shameless, Dope, He Got Game, Greenleaf, Mr. Box Office
Arnold Schwarzenegger
source: Getty Images Sport: Bodybuilding
Appeared In: The Terminator franchise, Last Action Hero, Conan the Barbarian, Junior, Predator, True Lies, Total Recall
Andre the Giant
source: Getty Images Sport: Professional wrestling
Appeared In: The Princess Bride, The Six Million Dollar Man, Zorro, Trading Mom
Joe Namath
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: New York Jets, Los Angeles Rams
Appeared In: C.C. & Company, The Wedding Ringer, Norwood, The Brady Bunch, Chattanooga Choo Choo, The Last Rebel
Johnny Weissmuller
source: Getty Images Sport: Swimming, Water Polo
Appeared In: Tarzan the Ape Man, Tarzan’s New Adventure, Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood, Jungle Jim
Tony Danza
source: Getty Images Sport: Boxing
Appeared In: Don Jon, Who’s the Boss?, Taxi, Angels in the Outfield, Baby Talk
Bubba Smith
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders, Houston Oilers
Teams: The Police Academy series, Good Times, Married… With Children, The Coach, Blood River
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper
source: Getty Images Sport: Professional wrestling
Appeared In: They Live, Hell Comes to Frogtown, Jungleground, Portal to Hell!!!, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Jason Lee
source: Getty Images Sport: Skateboarding
Appeared In: Almost Famous, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Chasing Amy, Vanilla Sky, My Name is Earl, Mallrats
John Matuszak
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Houston Oilers, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington, Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
Appeared In: The Goonies, The Ice Pirates, Half Nelson, Caveman, M*A*S*H, Hollywood Beat
Jason Statham
source: Getty Images Sport: Diving
Appeared In: Crank, Hobbs & Shaw, The Meg, The Beekeeper, The Transporter Series, Collateral
Shaquille O’Neal
source: Getty Images Sport: Basketball
Teams: Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics
Appeared In: Kazaam, Steel, The Lego Movie, Scary Movie 4, Blue Chips, Southland, Grown Ups 2
Hulk Hogan
source: Getty Images Sport: Professional wrestling
Appears In: Suburban Commando, Rocky III, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Mr. Nanny, Goldie and the Bears, No Holds Barred
Alex Karras
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Detroit Lions
Appeared In: Blazing Saddles, Webster, Centennial, Porky’s, M*A*S*H
Fred Williamson
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs
Appeared In: From Dusk Till Dawn, M*A*S*H, Starsky & Hutch, Fast Track, Julia, Hammer, Mean Johnny Barrows
Ronda Rousey
source: Getty Images Sport: MMA, Wrestling
Appeared In: The Expendables 3, Furious 7, Mike 22, 9-1-1, Entourage
Terry Crews
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay Packers, San Diego Chargers, Rhein Fire, Washington, Philadelphia Eagles
Appeared In: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Expendables, White Chicks, Idiocracy, The Longest Yard
Gina Carano
source: Getty Images Sport: MMA
Appeared In: Fast & Furious 6, Deadpool, The Mandalorian, Scorched Earth, Extraction
Nnamdi Asomugha
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers
Appeared In: Fire with Fire, Crown Heights, Sylvie’s Love, When the Streetlights Go On, The Good Nurse
Cam Neely
source: Getty Images Sport: Hockey
Teams: Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins
Appeared In: Dumb and Dumber, Stuck on You, Me, Myself & Irene, Rescue Me
Dave Bautista
source: Getty Images Sport: Professional wrestling/MMA
Appeared in: The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Spectre, Blade Runner 2049, Hotel Artemis, Stuber, Dune, Glass Onion
John David Washington
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Sacramento Mountain Lions
Appeared In: Tenet, BlacKkKlansman, Malcolm & Marie, The Creator, Amsterdam, Ballers
Dennis Rodman
source: Getty Images Sport: Basketball
Teams: Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks
Appeared In: Double Team, Simon Sez, The Comebacks, Air Force Z, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Cutaway
Jim Thorpe
source: Getty Images Sport: Football, Baseball
Teams: Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians (football), Oorang Indians, Rock Island Independents, New York Giants (football), Tampa Cardinals, Chicago Cardinals, New York Giants (baseball), Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves
Appeared In: Trailin’ West, Code of the Mounted, Off His Base, They Died with Their Boots On
Merlin Olsen
source: Getty Images Sport: Football
Teams: Los Angeles Rams
Appeared In: Little House on the Prairie, Mitchell, The Undefeated, Father Murphy
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
source: Getty Images Sport: Football/Professional wrestling
Appeared In: The Scorpion King, Doom, Tooth Fairy, San Andreas, Central Intelligence, Skyscraper, Red Notice