# Most unlikely action stars **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593 "2012-03-23T12:52:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/21 "2012-03-23T15:00:32Z")
Chris Elliot as “Eagleheart”. > **[Eagleheart (TV Series 2011–2014) ⭐ 7.4 | Action, Comedy](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1728860/)** > > | TV-14 Do I win? ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/22 "2012-03-23T15:06:27Z")
Nicholas Cage… ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/23 "2012-03-23T15:16:21Z")
> [@phungi](#): > > Nicholas Cage… I was just coming in to mention Cage. Maybe not unlikely, but his earlier films like _Birdy_, _Raising Arizona_ and _Wild at Heart_ were definitely squarely in the offbeat category rather than action. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/24 "2012-03-23T15:20:54Z")
A little off-topic, but one that really threw me was Wilford Brimley in the Firm as the bad guy. They needed someone who audiences felt could take Tom freaking Cruise and Wilford Brimley gets the part. Really? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/25 "2012-03-23T15:22:29Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > A little off-topic, but one that really threw me was Wilford Brimley in the Firm as the bad guy. > > They needed someone who audiences felt could take Tom freaking Cruise and Wilford Brimley gets the part. Really? Tom Cruise always looked like somebody’s grandma, armed with a fly swatter, should be able to take him. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/26 "2012-03-23T15:32:20Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > A little off-topic, but one that really threw me was Wilford Brimley in the Firm as the bad guy. > > They needed someone who audiences felt could take Tom freaking Cruise and Wilford Brimley gets the part. Really? Yeah, I wouldn’t want hang out with him on an [Antarctic base](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIUdssOAn0s) either. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/27 "2012-03-23T15:32:31Z")
In the mid-Nineties, there was an action movie called _ **Executive Decision** _. I suppose it was trying to be \*\*\* Die Hard \*\*\*on an airplane. The ostensible star was Steven Seagal, who played a hard-nosed leader of a Special Forces military unit. Sounds like a plausible action star, right? Except they KILLED Seagal’s character very early in the movie! So, the rest of the action had to be carried out by his crack, macho, commando team, which consisted of… John Leguizamo??? Oliver Platt??? BD Wong??? (What, was Charles Nelson Reilly unavailable?) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/28 "2012-03-23T15:36:09Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Folks about my age will probably think of Bruce Willis. When **Die Hard** came out, everyone was like, “Really? The goofy guy from **Moonlighting**? In an action movie? Whatever…” And of course it turned out to be awesome. Yeah, I came in to post that too. Hello, fellow middle-aged poster! ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/29 "2012-03-23T15:43:25Z")
how about michael keaton in the batman movies? ---
**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:** [March 23, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/30 "2012-03-23T15:44:06Z")
Does _The Longest Yard_ count as an action movie? Because if so, you’ve got Adam Sandler. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/31 "2012-03-23T15:44:30Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > … > She is just shy of 6 foot according to wikipedia. > … > [@Sigmagirl](#): > > She’s 5′ 11½″. How tall do you want her? > > ETA: Sorry, see **Alka Seltzer** already commented. i guess it’s subjective. she’s tall but not _Amazon_ tall, whom i imagine to be at least 2 metres. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/32 "2012-03-23T15:49:06Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Folks about my age will probably think of Bruce Willis. When **Die Hard** came out, everyone was like, “Really? The goofy guy from **Moonlighting**? In an action movie? Whatever…” And of course it turned out to be awesome. But IIRC, that was nothing compared to the outraged cries of comic fanboys when the first Tim Burton **Batman** movie was being filmed, and they cast … _Michael Keaton_ as Batman! You’d think the executives at Warner Bros. had just slaughtered a roomful of puppies, baby seals and cute li’l duckies. “Mr. MOM is going to play BATMAN?? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/33 "2012-03-23T16:08:23Z")
John Goodman in Red State. During a firefight, he picks up a fallen cop’s MP5 and takes out a couple of snipers with it. He also awesomely refuses first aid treatment. “Go on, get the fuck out of here, go get a rifle!” There is much awesomeness to be found in how he deals with the local sheriff as well. Uma Thurman doesn’t really strike me as being a badass killer but she plays one well in the Kill Bill movies. How about action hero Patrick Stewart in the Star Trek: TNG movies? In the first episode he surrenders. In the last movie he rams his ship into the enemy ship and beams over so he can bust his phaser rifle over someone’s head. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/34 "2012-03-23T16:11:53Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > i guess it’s subjective. she’s tall but not _Amazon_ tall, whom i imagine to be at least 2 metres. Um, you do realise that 2 meters is nearly 6ft 7, and that would disqualify every actress in Hollywood? ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/35 "2012-03-23T16:28:02Z")
i do now. more reason she’s well suited for the role! ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/36 "2012-03-23T16:50:55Z")
Yes, it might have been a bit of unlikely casting at the time, so it meets the OP in that sense, but I don’t think anyone could claim she was ill-suited to the role. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/37 "2012-03-23T16:59:47Z")
Neeson is an oddity. Has anyone else suddenly become an action star in their 50’s? ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/38 "2012-03-23T17:00:19Z")
It beats me how a person with the charisma of a wet blanket, read Chuck Norris, could ever be an action star. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/39 "2012-03-23T17:15:12Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > Sigourney may not be very tall but she carries herself like an Amazon. no surprise there at all. Leaving aside the height issue, consider this; Sigourney Weaver has an Oscar nomination for an action role. How many other action stars can say that? Not many. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593/40 "2012-03-23T17:25:01Z")
Sammo Hung. Overweight Chinese action movie star (and director). If you know his background you understand why he’s so good at his job but otherwise you’d think “Hey look, it’s Ron Jeremy’s Chinese cousin!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-action-stars/616593.md?page=3)