16 Actors Who Surprisingly Got Their Own Action Movie - And Nailed It
The action film tends to be one of the most popular and successful genres in terms of box office receipts, which explains why it remains a central part of most studios’ slates (including streamers such as Netflix). While some actors - including the likes of Bruce Willis, The Rock, and Tom Cruise - have built much of their stardom around appearing in this genre, there are others who are less identified with it.
Indeed, some of the most surprisingly successful action stars are those actors who were in more “serious” genres before making their transition. In a strange twist, looking at the details of these action films demonstrates just how versatile most genuine stars can be when presented with the right material. Even when a solid action film flops in theaters, these underrated gems can still reveal the tremendous skill of their central star. So, scroll down and vote up the actors who nailed their own action movie out of the blue.
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Colin Firth has always excelled at playing characters who exude a certain sense of stately distance and classy reserve (think of his role in Bridget Jones's Diary or Pride and Prejudice). Firth is masterful at bringing characters to life that the audience is invited to like, care about, and even love, even though they can be rather priggish.
This makes his action-star turn as Harry Hart in Kingsman: The Secret Service extraordinary. He not only manages to keep so much of what makes him appealing - the crisp delivery, the sense of nobility - but also adds a particularly devastating killer instinct. It is important to remember Harry is, first and foremost, a gentleman. After all, one doesn’t have to be a brute to be an effective and ruthless killer…
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Bob Odenkirk has been in Hollywood for quite a while, but he really only became a household name after he appeared as the morally compromised lawyer Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad and its spinoff, Better Call Saul. Saul is, in his own way, an even more fascinating character than Walter White, and a great deal of this stems from Odenkirk, who brings out the emotional richness of this fascinating individual.
Fortunately for action fans, Odenkirk was cast in the 2021 film Nobody. His character, Hutch, is hiding a secret: though seemingly a family man, he is a trained assassin. Odenkirk, to his credit, manages to capture both sides of Hutch’s personality exquisitely. In keeping with the conventions of the genre, Nobody is quite severe at times, but the actor never lets the viewer forget the essential human behind the ruthless exterior.
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To many people, Liam Neeson is a “serious” actor due to his appearances in many prestigious pictures early in his career, most notably Schindler’s List. In the second phase of his career, he was often a figure of wisdom and sagacity. Think Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace, Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia, and Henri Ducard in Batman Begins for examples of this.
However, beginning in the late 2000s, he turned to some darker thematic territory, starting with the film Taken. This 2008 movie sees Neeson play a man whose daughter is snatched by an Albanian human trafficker. Neeson transforms the weighty sagacity of his earlier roles into a steely and iron-willed determination in his part of Bryan Mills, a man determined to rescue his daughter at any cost. Nowadays, Neeson is seemingly in a new action film on an almost yearly basis, and it's all thanks to the success of Taken.
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For much of the 1990s, Geena Davis cemented a well-earned reputation for being a bankable star. In films like Thelma & Louise and A League of Their Own, she excelled at crafting women who were both vulnerable and strong. Small wonder she became something of a feminist icon at the time. And, like many actresses of the 1990s, she also repeatedly demonstrated her range as a performer, with one of her most notable appearances being in 1996’s The Long Kiss Goodnight.
In the film, Davis plays a mother who - in a surprise to no one who has ever seen an action film before - finds out she is really a trained assassin. Davis demonstrates great control of the physical sequences throughout the film, and it is truly rewarding to watch her perform many of her own stunts. She is, more than anything else, a woman committed to her craft. And Samuel L. Jackson is there too!
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Ever since she had her breakout role as the teenaged Briony in Atonement, Saoirse Ronan has shown there is very little she cannot do when it comes to acting. From a teen trying to find herself in Lady Bird to a queen forging her own destiny in Mary, Queen of Scots, she has shown remarkable talent for someone so young.
Though Hanna might be a bit derivative in terms of its plot - which focuses on a girl raised to be an assassin by her father and the efforts of those who want to terminate her - it is one of those movies which succeeds on the strength of its acting. Ronan’s icy demeanor is perfect for her role as Hanna, and appearing alongside such formidable talents as Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett allows her to show the skill for which she has been so deservedly praised.
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For much of his career, Michael Caine has excelled at acting in both dramatic and comedic roles. In both cases, he brings a certain measure of class and prestige, which has been particularly true in the later stages of his career. Even in a film like The Muppet Christmas Carol, which could have been entirely over-the-top ridiculous, he turns in an exemplary performance as Ebenezer Scrooge.
Though he’s no stranger to harder-hitting dramas, it is still striking to see him take the lead in a film as vicious as Harry Brown, where he plays an older man who becomes a vigilante after his friend is slain. In less capable hands, the film could have been a celebration of rampant violence, but Caine’s performance allows Harry to become more than just a killing machine. He is, instead, a man struggling to piece together his recently shattered world.
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Bridget Fonda is, of course, Hollywood royalty as several members of her family have achieved Tinseltown superstardom. However, she had an equally successful career herself, having starred in several films before 1993's Point of No Return, which showed just how effective she could be in an action role.
Though Point of No Return lacks some of the tragic pathos of the French film on which it’s based (La Femme Nikita), there’s no question Fonda is the best thing about it. She brings a fierce and biting intensity to her role as a convicted criminal whose demise is faked so she can go on to become a trained assassin. In the mark of a consummate professional, she truly inhabits the body of her character with no reservations at all.
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After starting in Australian television at a young age, Emily Browning slowly began to work her way into movies. One of her first prominent roles was in 2004's big-screen adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events, and from there, it was but a quick jump before she landed her own action film, Sucker Punch.
In the film, Browning plays Babydoll, a young woman who has endured unspeakable suffering and is committed to a mental institution. However, she soon discovers extraordinary powers. To Browning’s credit, she often rises above the latent objectification in the film itself to help deliver a scathing critique of the toxic culture that frequently surrounds video games, action films, and other aspects of popular culture at large.
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Vince Vaughn is most famous for being a member of the so-called “Frat Pack,” a group of male actors famous for appearing in numerous comedies in the 2000s. His characters tend to be average guys who still manage to get the girl despite their shortcomings and boorishness. Every so often, however, Vaughn has shown he has some genuine acting chops, with an ability and willingness to act outside of his comfort zone.
For example, In Brawl in Cell Block 99, Vaughn plays Bradley Thomas, a man sculpted into brutality by his life in prison. While he could have played the character in his usual one-note fashion, Vaughan instead delves deep into both the character's psychology and pain. The result is a surprisingly textured and emotionally rich performance, one of the best of Vaughan’s entire career.
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After hitting the mainstream with her breakthrough role as White House Press Secretary C.J. Cregg in The West Wing, Alison Janney has earned well-deserved praise for a wide variety of roles. Whether it’s as the tragically comedic Bonnie Plunkett in Mom or the bitter, jagged-edged LaVona Golden in I, Tonya, she always manages to bring out the richness and complexity of the many characters she portrays.
In Lou, Janney continues to flex both literal and metaphorical muscles as the title character. Janney's ex-CIA officer sets out to rescue a girl who has been snatched by her vengeful father. Though the script can be pretty silly at times - particularly with a plot twist that is almost too easy to see coming - Janney gives her all to the performance. Hard-bitten and no-nonsense, she is more than believable as a woman willing to do whatever it takes to do the right thing and atone for her past misdeeds.
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If there’s one character type Michael Cera has excelled at playing, it is the wimpy guy. Throughout the 2000s, he portrayed gangly, mild-mannered characters, often at a loss as to how to handle the world around them. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the range to appear in other roles that require a different acting skillset, though.
He shows this to significant effect in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, an Edgar Wright-fueled blend of action movie and video game aesthetics. What is particularly striking about this role is how it allows Cera to take his established star type and turn it on his head. While he is still the wimp, he still manages to take on his girlfriend’s evil exes in hilariously choreographed fights and defeat them. The film’s use of special effects might have been the subject of most critics’ praise, but Cera’s performance deserves just as many plaudits.
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Daniel Radcliffe has had one of the most fascinating trajectories of any actor working in Hollywood. Bursting onto the scene in the early 2000s as Harry Potter, he has since gone on to take on a wide variety of different roles, proving how impossible it is to pin him down to a particular type. Radcliffe seemingly goes out of his way to find the wildest roles he can find. Though it’s impossible not to be conscious of watching “Harry Potter” growing into an adult actor, Radcliffe deserves credit for his willingness to stretch his performing muscles.
In particular, he has earned praise for appearing in the action film Guns Akimbo. In the film, he plays a nerdy malcontent who gets sucked into a brutal world of fighting for social media consumption. It is a frantically-paced science fiction film of an old-fashioned sort, but it just works. And, just as importantly, Radcliffe perfectly captures his nerdy character’s essential essence.
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Though she is most frequently associated with comedy, Melissa McCarthy has repeatedly shown remarkable skill in a number of genres. For example, her literary fraud Lee Israel in Can You Ever Forgive Me? was genuinely exemplary and earned her an Oscar nomination in the process.
What truly sets McCarthy apart, however, is how well she can channel her vibrant energy into physical comedy. This talent is particularly evident in the film Spy, in which she manages to be both her usual ridiculous and outlandish self while also giving audiences a character with her development and dramatic arc. McCarthy’s unassuming Susan Cooper deserves a place among the great spies who have appeared on the big screen.
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Many viewers find it difficult to see Rainn Wilson as anything other than Dwight Schrute of The Office. While this is undeniably a showcase for Wilson’s formidable comedic talents, it is also a shame, as he has repeatedly shown his skill in several other genres and roles. These include, surprisingly enough, the superhero film, as he is the star of 2010's Super.
As Super is directed by James Gunn, it’s a superhero movie with a bit of an edge, making Wilson’s performance as doofus-turned-superhero Frank Darbo surprisingly successful. As “The Crimson Bolt," he manages to show the viewer the deep pain and misery of this particular character, adding a new layer to the somewhat tired figure of the big-budget superhero in the process.
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Few actors have worked as hard as Taraji P. Henson, who has spent serious time honing her craft. Over the years, Henson has appeared in numerous film and television roles both big and small. For many, she is most famous for her performances in Empire and Hidden Figures.
In 2018, Henson got to headline her own action film, Proud Mary, where she plays a hitwoman who develops a maternal interest in the son of one of her hits. Though the script has its fair share of problems, Henson carries the film, and even those who would otherwise skip it should check it out for her performance. She has a charisma that proves impossible to resist, even when her character is not always especially likable.
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There’s no denying the incredible versatility exhibited by Viola Davis throughout her career. In each and every character she plays, she manages to dig deep into their spirit and their psyche, laying it bare for the viewer to see. Davis's ability was used to great effect in the role of Annalise Keating in How to Get Away With Murder, but it is also evident in pretty much every part she has played throughout her career.
Davis's acting prowess makes it all the more remarkable that she appears in an action epic such as The Woman King. To play Nanisca, the leader of an all-female band of elite warriors, Davis sculpted her body into a veritable human tank. Of course, she is also not afraid to show her action hero’s softer side, particularly in her relationship with her rebellious daughter, Nawi. It is yet another well-rounded performance from one of the greatest actors of her generation.
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