And even a 30yr old Sean Connery (his casting age, and 31yr old filming age) had the look of a sophisticated 40yr old in the first James Bond. Flemings actually portrays him as a mid-late 30s agent in the books, so Sean was cast for an older part, one could say. (Their 1st pick was 58yr old Cary Grant, but he only could do one.) Roger Moore was around 40 in his 1st. Here’s the 1st appearance of James Bond in the movies.
Cruise was 27 in Top Gun. I can’t really count Arnold, until he was actually acting in movies. He was more an “action figure” v actor Sean Connery, Mel Gibson were on the young side of that list too ... 29-30, I believe. (At least when Sean was cast for Bond). You need to add Harrison Ford to your list, btw. He was mid-30s I believe, like Clint, and Matrix Keanu
My opinion- an ‘action star’ needs to have more than one role under their belt to be considered as such. Outside of Liam I haven’t seen these folks in anything else. (Haven’t looked though)
For earlier decades, does Mummy count? Brendan Fraser was 30. but overall, I agree with your premise of now.
No. What I’m observing is that action stars now are mostly ‘old’ (over 40) One action role from what I can see. He’s 40
I think the O'Brien is on his way to establishing himself. American Assassin is a pure action movie, and his others are action adventure. As you stated, both Hemsworth brothers have been in many pure action movies. But agreed overall that this role is still dominated mostly by the older crowd. Edit: Add Daniel Radcliff - still only 31 - a star of many genres, including action.
OP is right, the older guys own the action genre now. I think it started about 20 years ago, all the young male acting jobs were going to these short pretty boy types that struggled to take a more commanding/dominant presence as they age. Zac Efron is a perfect example. Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan made the leap from teeny bopper fame but mainly because they grew to full adult height and hopped on the sauce to fullfil their action hero dreams.
I read an interview the other day where Charlize Theron had interviewed Chloe Grace Moretz, otherwise I might not have thought of them. But check out the action credits Theron has to her name. Granted, she's 45 now and not all of these are starring roles, and some, like The Hunstman movies, might not even belong on the list (I haven't seen them all to rule them out), but damn if she doesn't have some action movies under her belt. Atomic Blonde 2 (announced) Lorraine Broughton F9 The Old Guard Gringo The Fate of the Furious Atomic Blonde The Huntsman: Winter's War Mad Max: Fury Road Snow White and the Huntsman Prometheus The Road Hancock Aeon Flux The Italian Job 15 Minutes The Yards Reindeer Games The Astronaut's Wife Chloe Grace Moretz has Shadow in the Clouds, the Kick Ass movies, and a few pretty good horror movies to her name. Then there's Anya Taylor-Joy, who's probably going to be a huge star before it's all said and done. But I get what you're saying. I grew up watching Eastwood, McQueen, Norris, Arnie, etc. and can't point to any young male actor these days as someone I would call a legit badass who brings credibility to their action roles.
I’ll be honest and say I was thinking men when I started the thread. Charlize is a bonafide kickass star, no doubt. Chloe is a good one. Not sure that Anna is going to skew action for her career. She seems to be the new ‘it girl’ for Hollywood drama.
I agree. But I was also just asking for grins whether Frasier counts as an action movie star in his day.
I do feel the question though. Actors who have 'repeatedly' have done gun, martial arts action type of move AND was famous. Clint Eastwood (90) Chuck Norris (81) Sly Stallone (74) Arnold Schwarzenegger (73) Pam Grier (72) Ed Harris (70) Steven Seagal (69) Jacky Chan (67) Bruce Willis (66) Linda Hamilton (64) Van Damme (60) Antonio Banderas (60) Jet Li (58) Tom Cruise (58) Wesley Snipes (58) Michelle Yeoh (58) Keanu Reeves (56) Vin Disel (53) Jason Statham (53) Daniel Craig (53) Dave Bautista (52) Matt Damon (50) Dwayne Johnson (49) Idris Elba (48) Kate Beckinsale (47) Tony Jaa (45) Charlize Theron (45) Milla Jovovich (45) John Cena (44) Tom Hardy (43) Anthony Mackie (42) - outside of Marvel, seem him done bunch of action roles for Netflix shows. Zoe Saldana (42) ------------------------------ There are people under 40, but some of those actors are less 'one note' than the 80/90's action stars that we stereotypically think of. Nowadays, movie stars are less of a audience draw than before, as people go see a movie because of a 'director name (chris nolan)' or a studio name (marvel, pixar)
