10 Best Wrestlers Turned Actors

The sport/entertainment industry that is professional wrestling is filled to the brim with larger-than-life characters of imposing physical appearance who are taught to learn lines and deliver them in front of crowds of thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) of people on a nightly basis. It is perhaps obvious then that Hollywood would come knocking sooner or later for some of the industry’s biggest and most recognisable stars, but as history has proven time and time again, the transition from the exposition-heavy dialogue and over-the-top characterisation in wrestling to the more subtle techniques required for acting on film make for a difficult transition that only a special few performers have managed to achieve in the history of both wrestling and cinema.

Often, the most famous and popular stars of the world’s premiere wrestling organisation WWE – whether they be The Miz, Randy Orton, Big Show or Triple H – take movie roles in their employer’s own straight-to-DVD B-movie action shooters, gaining much needed material for their portfolios but rarely getting the chance to break out into something more dramatic and/or comedic; their lives as movie stars therefore dictated by their wrestling personas, making a transition away from wrestling and into Hollywood an even greater task. 

However, there are wrestlers who take a leap of faith into an acting career and make it work; and of those who have, some have been involved in the most iconic films of their generation or have at least made themselves a memorable presence in a film or two. These actors, who’ve somehow broken into acting against the odds (and historical precedence), are the focus of this Movie List from The Film Magazine: the 10 Best Wrestlers Turned Actors.

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10. Adam “Edge” Copeland

Wrestlers Turned Actors

Edge was always a good looking hunk of a man, so it wasn’t a surprise to see him transition into the world of acting once his wrestling career was sadly cut short.

In the interim of his career hiatus (caused by a severe neck injury), Edge became a regular on the TV shows ‘Haven’ and ‘Vikings’, and has even appeared in the DC TV adaptation ‘The Flash’.

He has that tall, blonde, attractive star vibe going for him, so it’s easy to see why they lumped him in old fashioned Scandinavian clothing and threw him on the set of ‘Vikings’ in particular, but his forray into TV remains impressive nonetheless. Unlike most other wrestlers – including the majority still to come on this list – Edge can say he’s been in some of the most popular TV shows in modern times, and while that doesn’t quite equate to a breakthrough film career, it is impressive nonetheless. 




9. Kevin Nash

Wrestlers Turned Actors 9

Kevin Nash is a former professional wrestler who, at the age of 53, earned a supporting role in Magic Mike. Now there’s proof of an impressive physique! 

He was pretty good in it too. 

Come to think of it, he has been pretty good in everything he’s been in… even a random ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’ episode when he hopped out of a closet and got lambasted by the ever-sarcastic Salem (who was a cat, for those unfamiliar). 

As well as the odd notable role, he’s also had countless background roles in major films like John Wick, Rock of Ages and The Longest Yard, making a decent career for himself as a lower tier film and television actor in the wake of his in-ring retirement.

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