ACTING TOUGH | 

Eight other sports stars who hit the big time in Hollywood like Conor McGregor

MMA fighter Conor McGregor joins the list of Hollywood stars who made their names in the ring or on the pitch

Conor McGregor has a role in Road House with Jake Gyllenhaal

MMA fighter Gina Carano starred in Haywire with Michael Fassbender

Jason Statham, pictured with ex footballer Vinnie Jones

Dwayne Johnson was a WWE star

Kali Reis with Jodie Foster in True Detective

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Dave Bautista played Drax

Footballer Eric Cantona has had a successful acting career

Esther McCarthy

This week Conor McGregor makes his movie debut in Road House, starring opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in a remake of the cult classic.

In doing so, he’ll become the latest sports star to make a transition to the big screen.

It seems like the determination and sheer will it takes to become a professional sports star also creates an edge when it comes to breaking into Hollywood.

Some of those who made the big screen their second career brought their sporting skills with them, while others created a whole new persona.

John Cena had already made a name for himself as a world champion WWE wrestler and was regarded as one of wrestling’s all-time greats when he first made a move to the big screen. It turned out to be a huge success, with the star featuring in a number of blockbusters.

He got to show his action chops in the Fast Saga, while he showed his comedic side in Vacation Friends and Trainwreck.

As his wrestling career nears its end, Cena is mulling what he will do next. “You’ve got to ask yourself: ‘What else do I know? What else do I want to pursue? What else am I curious about?’” he recently told People magazine. “I have been fortunate to be able to open up a whole new Pandora’s box of curiosity and things that I’m interested in.”

Dave Bautista played Drax

Another wrestler who’s finding fame outside the ring is Dave Bautista. Bautista started exploring an acting career way back in 2006 with a tiny role in the US comedy Relative Strangers and has been gradually building it since those early days.

He hit the jackpot playing Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy, which made him a big movie star. He’s been mixing it up ever since, with roles in films including Blade Runner 2049 and the new Dune movies.

Kali Reis with Jodie Foster in True Detective

One of the most recent sports to screen successes has been that of Kali Reis. Currently starring opposite Jodi Foster in True Detective: Night Country, Kali had already notched up a few roles before landing this major series.

But she was previously a champion professional boxer — and even sparred with our own champ Katie Taylor as she made the transition from amateur to professional boxing.

She was thrilled to get the True Detective role opposite Foster and likened it in many ways to her sport.

“It’s one thing to try something new and it’s another to get thrown in head-first,” she said recently. “A bit like boxing, it’s backs-against-ropes: you’ve gotta learn and you’ve gotta learn quick.”

Jason Statham, pictured with ex footballer Vinnie Jones

Jason Statham shot to fame as a tough talker in Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. In the years since, he has become one of the biggest action stars on the planet, often playing a badass that you do not want to cross.

But Statham had an entirely different career before he turned to the movies— he was once a competitive diver who competed for Britain at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

Little wonder, then, that we’ve seen him take on some impressive diving stunts in his movies, or that he was able to take on the fearsome Meg while being comfortable in the water. He still takes to the water when he gets the opportunity. “I’m a big scuba diver fanatic. Wherever I am in the world, if I get a chance to get in the ocean, I do,” he said.

Statham’s Lock, Stock co-star Vinnie Jones also famously made the leap from the soccer stadium to the screen when he worked with Ritchie.

Jones was on the home straight of a 15-year career as a professional footballer, playing for teams including Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelsea and QPR, when Ritchie cast him.

The footballer thought it was a one-off but has enjoyed a high-profile screen career ever since. In a case of full circle, the actor is currently starring as a canny groundsman in Ritchie’s Netflix series, The Gentlemen.

He first shot to fame in WWE circles as the fighter known as The Rock. But Dwayne Johnson has had arguably an even more successful career on screen ever since he played The Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns way back in 2001. He was good enough to set himself up for a spin-off and has been playing leading roles ever since.

Dwayne Johnson was a WWE star

He put his strong physical presence to good use in the Fast and Furious movies and helped make the Jumanji reboot a big box-office hit. He’s also shown his comic side in movies like Tooth Fairy and Baywatch.

Of course, it was the phenomenal success of Arnold Schwarzenegger which would have inspired a whole generation of sports stars eyeing a career on the silver screen. Arnie had won the title of Mr Universe at the age of just 20 and was rapidly making a name for himself as one of the greatest in his field.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

But he was only getting started — he had a breakthrough hit with Conan the Barbarian in 1982 and two years later played the title character in The Terminator, making him one of the biggest movie stars of that decade.

A career in politics would later follow. “It was very difficult for me in the beginning,” he said of his early efforts to star in movies. “I was told by agents and casting people that my body was ‘too weird’, that I had a funny accent, and that my name was too long.”

Mixed martial arts star Gina Carano found her way to the big screen via a movie that was shot in Dublin. Director Steven Soderbergh cast the tough fighter as Michael Fassbender’s nemesis in his action movie Haywire, with a massive fight scene between the duo taking place in the city’s Shelbourne Hotel.

MMA fighter Gina Carano starred in Haywire with Michael Fassbender

“Even in that physical fight scene, Michael didn’t care if I threw him, kicked him, he was all for it,” she said at the time. “And it was great fun when I put a choke hold on him.” Recent roles have included Deadpool and The Mandalorian.

Footballer Eric Cantona has had a successful acting career

Eric Cantona will be forever remembered for his time playing for Manchester United. But he too has managed to forge a successful acting career, particularly in his native France, where he has several movies and TV series to his credit.

He even played himself in Ken Loach’s 2009 comedy Looking For Eric, a charmer in which he becomes the inspiration to a man whose life has fallen apart.

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