# Is he an action star? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2019, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206 "2019-06-28T07:03:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/21 "2019-06-28T20:15:42Z")
I’ve voted. Here’s how I made my decisions. I went with what I primarily know the actor for, and whether or not I consider there main body of work to be action. I didn’t rule someone out just because they’ve done work that isn’t action. I also tended to not consider sci-fi roles as action. Here are my comments on some of the names listed. I didn’t include Shatner as an action star because I don’t consider Captain Kirk an action role. Jim Belushi was a bit of a head scratcher. Maybe I just missed one of his action roles, but I tend to think of him as a comedy star rather than an action star. Seeing him on the list seemed out of place. Peter Weller is another interesting case. I would have thought more people would list him as an action star. I’m only familiar with him for his role as Robocop, but I’m guessing based on the poll results so far (and without looking him up) that he must have some well known non-action roles. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/22 "2019-06-28T21:19:07Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Peter Weller is another interesting case. I would have thought more people would list him as an action star. I’m only familiar with him for his role as Robocop, but I’m guessing based on the poll results so far (and without looking him up) that he must have some well known non-action roles. I mostly associate him with _Screamers_, completely forgot he was the Robocop :o. But while all three movies feature shooty bang bang I wouldn’t say they’re really action films - \*RoboCop \*is a grim cyberpunk satire, \*Screamers \*is a grim post-apocalyptic road trip. Neither are the kind of popcorn, put-your-brain-on-a-shelf-and-enjoy stuff that Bruce Lee or Bruce Willis did. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/23 "2019-06-28T21:42:23Z")
I think Dave Bautista is the only guy I mentally disqualified based on the “star” part rather than the “action” part. He’s more talented that JCVD or Steven Segal, though so I imagine I’ll end up thinking of him as an action star by the end of his acting career, if he continues to get roles. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/24 "2019-06-28T22:22:22Z")
I know who all of them are. I don’t see the point of adding that option, it just makes the results needlessly complicated. All I selected were those I thought were action stars. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/25 "2019-06-28T22:30:43Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I know who all of them are. I don’t see the point of adding that option, it just makes the results needlessly complicated. All I selected were those I thought were action stars. If 50 people respond, but only 5 know who Chow Yun-Fat is (and they all think that he’s an action star), then Chow Yun-Fat will get 5 responses and Arnold Schwarzeneggar will get 50. 100% of people will think that they’re both action stars. If I don’t know how many people know a person, then I can’t tell the difference between a non-action star and a person who just isn’t commonly known (because they’re famous in a different marketplace or in a previous era or whatever). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/26 "2019-06-29T01:44:30Z")
Whew! Quite a list, but I went through the whole damn thing. The key word for a lot of those guys would be “was,” not “is.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/27 "2019-06-29T04:53:05Z")
Is Ben Affleck really the most recognized actor in the world? Or is this just an artifact of the way the list is arranged? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/28 "2019-06-29T05:34:10Z")
I would not touch this list with my 10-foot pole. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/29 "2019-06-29T05:51:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Is Ben Affleck really the most recognized actor in the world? Or is this just an artifact of the way the list is arranged? Well, as of this writing 49 people know who Ben Affleck is and 46 people know who John Wayne is. Since I refuse to believe anybody with a pulse doesn’t know who John Wayne is even if they might not have seen him in any movie, we can infer that at least 3 people quit the poll midway through (more if anybody didn’t know who Ben Affleck is, but c’mon, who doesn’t ? Do we have posters who have been stuck in an iron lung for the past 20 years ?) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/30 "2019-06-29T06:11:23Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > He’s a star…the “action” star qualifier is a limiter, not just an acknowledgement that has has the ability to play “action” roles. Yeah, I really only flagged a relative handful of these as “action stars” since I limit that category to people who only or _virtually_ only do actions roles. Keanu Reeves has done a ton of action roles, but no way I can consider him an “action star” - his portfolio is just too diverse. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/31 "2019-06-29T13:05:00Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Well, as of this writing 49 people know who Ben Affleck is and 46 people know who John Wayne is. > > Since I refuse to believe anybody with a pulse doesn’t know who John Wayne is even if they might not have seen him in any movie, we can infer that at least 3 people quit the poll midway through (more if anybody didn’t know who Ben Affleck is, but c’mon, who doesn’t ? Do we have posters who have been stuck in an iron lung for the past 20 years ?) Yep, I think it’s people quitting the poll early. You need to be a poll-taking version of an action star to do it all! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/32 "2019-06-29T21:25:16Z")
I somehow accidentally skipped Stallone, making the list, but I feel comfortable claiming that he would have won a spot if he had been there, based on the current results so I’ll be including him in the results. To determine the results, I will calculate the current scores as voted by you all, but also a version with two extra null votes. This is a cheap and easy way to get some form of confidence rating, given that we don’t have the same number of responses for each candidate. The “two null” version orders people by how confident we are in their action starness. In cases where there are more “star” voters than “knows” voters, I am increasing the “knows” to the number of “star” votes for that actor. Here are the results (normal): Jackie Chan 100 Vin Diesel 100 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson 100 Bruce Lee 100 Jet Li 100 Dolph Lundgren 100 Chuck Norris 100 Arnold Schwarzenegger 100 Steven Seagal 100 Jean-Claude Van Damme 100 Jason Statham 97.619047619 Chow Yun-fat 89.4736842105 Bruce Willis 86 Charles Bronson 84.6153846154 Tony Jaa 83.3333333333 Wesley Snipes 83.3333333333 Dave Bautista 82.3529411765 Jason Momoa 73.8095238095 Mr. T 70.5882352941 Tom Cruise 62.7450980392 Danny Trejo 60.9756097561 Clint Eastwood 60.7843137255 Chris Hemsworth 59.0909090909 Chris Evans 58.5365853659 Keanu Reeves 56.862745098 John Wayne 56 Harrison Ford 50 Jeremy Renner 50 Lou Ferrigno 48.8888888889 Mel Gibson 47.0588235294 Liam Neeson 45.8333333333 Burt Reynolds 42 Steve McQueen 41.3043478261 Jean Reno 40.625 Hugh Jackman 40 Bruce Campbell 39.5348837209 Gerard Butler 39.4736842105 Sean Connery 36.5384615385 Ving Rhames 36.3636363636 Lee Majors 36.3636363636 Kurt Russell 36 Ryan Reynolds 33.3333333333 Mark Wahlberg 32.6530612245 Samuel L. Jackson 32 Will Smith 31.3725490196 Chris Pratt 30.2325581395 Pierce Brosnan 29.4117647059 Antonio Banderas 28 Robert Downey Jr. 27.4509803922 Idris Elba 27.2727272727 Christopher Lambert 27.027027027 Nicolas Cage 25 Chris Pine 23.6842105263 Timothy Dalton 23.4042553191 Ron Perlman 23.2558139535 Christian Bale 22.9166666667 Danny Glover 22.9166666667 Kiefer Sutherland 22.9166666667 Roy Rogers 21.7391304348 Adam West 20.4081632653 Russell Crowe 20 Tom Hardy 20 Denzel Washington 19.6078431373 Tom Selleck 19.2307692308 Ben Affleck 18.8679245283 Mark Ruffalo 18.1818181818 Nathan Fillion 16.2790697674 Sean Bean 14.2857142857 Brad Pitt 14.2857142857 Burt Lancaster 12.8205128205 Mickey Rourke 11.6279069767 Clive Owen 11.1111111111 Peter Weller 10 John Travolta 9.8039215686 Cary Elwes 9.5238095238 Johnny Depp 7.6923076923 William Shatner 7.6923076923 Michael Keaton 6 Tom Berenger 5.7142857143 Edward Norton 4.2553191489 Owen Wilson 4.1666666667 John Malkovich 4.0816326531 Jeff Bridges 3.9215686275 Eddie Murphy 3.8461538462 Jim Belushi 2 With two null votes: Steven Seagal 96.4285714286 Jackie Chan 96.3636363636 Chuck Norris 96.3636363636 Arnold Schwarzenegger 96.3636363636 Jean-Claude Van Damme 96.3636363636 Vin Diesel 96.2962962963 Bruce Lee 96.2962962963 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson 96.1538461538 Jet Li 96.0784313725 Dolph Lundgren 95.8333333333 Jason Statham 93.1818181818 Chow Yun-fat 85 Bruce Willis 82.6923076923 Charles Bronson 81.4814814815 Wesley Snipes 80 Dave Bautista 77.7777777778 Tony Jaa 75 Jason Momoa 70.4545454545 Mr. T 67.9245283019 Tom Cruise 60.3773584906 Clint Eastwood 58.4905660377 Danny Trejo 58.1395348837 Chris Hemsworth 56.5217391304 Chris Evans 55.8139534884 Keanu Reeves 54.7169811321 John Wayne 53.8461538462 Harrison Ford 48.1481481481 Jeremy Renner 47.7272727273 Lou Ferrigno 46.8085106383 Mel Gibson 45.2830188679 Liam Neeson 44 Burt Reynolds 40.3846153846 Steve McQueen 39.5833333333 Hugh Jackman 38.4615384615 Jean Reno 38.2352941176 Bruce Campbell 37.7777777778 Gerard Butler 37.5 Sean Connery 35.1851851852 Ving Rhames 34.7826086957 Lee Majors 34.7826086957 Kurt Russell 34.6153846154 Ryan Reynolds 31.8181818182 Mark Wahlberg 31.3725490196 Samuel L. Jackson 30.7692307692 Will Smith 30.1886792453 Chris Pratt 28.8888888889 Pierce Brosnan 28.3018867925 Antonio Banderas 26.9230769231 Robert Downey Jr. 26.4150943396 Idris Elba 26.0869565217 Christopher Lambert 25.641025641 Nicolas Cage 24.0740740741 Chris Pine 22.5 Timothy Dalton 22.4489795918 Ron Perlman 22.2222222222 Christian Bale 22 Danny Glover 22 Kiefer Sutherland 22 Roy Rogers 20.8333333333 Adam West 19.6078431373 Russell Crowe 19.2307692308 Tom Hardy 18.9189189189 Denzel Washington 18.8679245283 Tom Selleck 18.5185185185 Ben Affleck 18.1818181818 Mark Ruffalo 17.3913043478 Nathan Fillion 15.5555555556 Brad Pitt 13.7254901961 Sean Bean 13.6363636364 Burt Lancaster 12.1951219512 Mickey Rourke 11.1111111111 Clive Owen 10.5263157895 Peter Weller 9.5238095238 John Travolta 9.4339622642 Cary Elwes 9.0909090909 Johnny Depp 7.4074074074 William Shatner 7.4074074074 Michael Keaton 5.7692307692 Tom Berenger 5.4054054054 Edward Norton 4.0816326531 Owen Wilson 4 John Malkovich 3.9215686275 Jeff Bridges 3.7735849057 Eddie Murphy 3.7037037037 Jim Belushi 1.9230769231 To also try and incorporate popularity into the mix, I have also calculated a popularity value for each actor. This is simply the number of “knows” divided by the highest response value in the set (“knows” or “star”). This below table is ordered according to the square root of (the square of the value in the first table above plus the square of the popularity). That is, it’s the length of the hypotenuse of the popularity and the star vote. I believe that this would be a modern SDMBer’s approximate view of the rankings of everyone. With popularity included (Green \>= 137, Olive \>= 120, Orange \>= 100, Red \>= 95): Arnold Schwarzenegger Sylvester Stallone (POSITED) Jackie Chan Bruce Lee Chuck Norris Steven Seagal Vin Diesel Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Jean-Claude Van Damme Jet Li Dolph Lundgren Charles Bronson Bruce Willis Jason Statham Wesley Snipes Mr. T Chow Yun-fat Tom Cruise Clint Eastwood Keanu Reeves Harrison Ford John Wayne Jason Momoa Mel Gibson Dave Bautista Sean Connery Burt Reynolds Hugh Jackman Chris Hemsworth Liam Neeson Ben Affleck Will Smith Nicolas Cage Kurt Russell Pierce Brosnan Robert Downey Jr. Tom Selleck Samuel L. Jackson Danny Trejo Antonio Banderas Lou Ferrigno Johnny Depp William Shatner Denzel Washington Mark Wahlberg Eddie Murphy Chris Evans John Travolta Russell Crowe Steve McQueen Jeff Bridges Adam West Michael Keaton Jim Belushi Jeremy Renner Brad Pitt Christian Bale Danny Glover Kiefer Sutherland John Malkovich Timothy Dalton Tony Jaa Ving Rhames Lee Majors Owen Wilson Bruce Campbell Roy Rogers Edward Norton Idris Elba Chris Pratt Ryan Reynolds Mark Ruffalo Ron Perlman Nathan Fillion Gerard Butler Mickey Rourke Sean Bean Cary Elwes Peter Weller Chris Pine Christopher Lambert Burt Lancaster Jean Reno Tom Hardy Clive Owen Tom Berenger ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/33 "2019-06-29T21:33:29Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Yeah, I really only flagged a relative handful of these as “action stars” since I limit that category to people who only or _virtually_ only do actions roles. Keanu Reeves has done a ton of action roles, but no way I can consider him an “action star” - his portfolio is just too diverse. That’s like saying that Gene Kelly wasn’t a dancer because he was also in _Inherit the Wind,_ or the Robin Williams wasn’t a comedic actor because of _Awakenings_. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/34 "2019-06-29T21:52:00Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Okay, who’s the one person who knows who Jackie Chan is but doesn’t think he’s an action star? 😕 Clearly someone unfamiliar with his _true_ life’s passion, hosting poetry slams. I’ll see all of you at Chanslam 2020 in Santa Fe. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/35 "2019-06-29T23:16:02Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Well, as of this writing 49 people know who Ben Affleck is and 46 people know who John Wayne is. > > Since I refuse to believe anybody with a pulse doesn’t know who John Wayne is even if they might not have seen him in any movie, we can infer that at least 3 people quit the poll midway through (more if anybody didn’t know who Ben Affleck is, but c’mon, who doesn’t ? Do we have posters who have been stuck in an iron lung for the past 20 years ?) Maybe Brendan Fraser posts here? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/36 "2019-06-30T00:23:14Z")
It would be helpful if it was clearer whether it was meant that they are only, or primarily action stars, or whether it’s just yes, they qualify as that, possibly among other things. I found myself happily quantifying John Wayne as an action star, Westerns being the action movies of their time. Likewise I’ve seen Brad Pitt do some dramatic work, but in my head he’s an action star. But Chow Yun-Fat, I simply can not bring myself to limit him in that way. So yeah, my definition skipped about a bit. . . ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/37 "2019-06-30T04:42:17Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Likewise I’ve seen Brad Pitt do some dramatic work, but in my head he’s an action star… He is? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/38 "2019-06-30T06:02:18Z")
Why is Dustin Hoffman not on the list? He even reportedly thought of himself as an action star when he jumped from a hovering helicopter onto a ship in _Outbreak_ (1995). ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/39 "2019-06-30T07:02:53Z")
I love this! You have basically invented a logical rating system for action stars, and the results look exactly right. I like how Harrison Ford is exactly at 50. That seems about right. And in the weighted list, just about everyone seems to be right about where they should be to me. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Katakuri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Katakuri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katakuri)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206/40 "2019-06-30T08:51:52Z")
I know everyone on the list, so I skipped the “I know” part, and voted only on who I believe is an action star, and, yes, Tom Mapother is definitely one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-an-action-star/836206.md?page=3)