Most Famous Athletes Turned Actresses

Some stars start on the field, the mat, or the ice before stepping in front of the camera. Their paths look different—Olympic medals, world titles, or sold-out arenas—but they all bring competitive focus and physical discipline that translate surprisingly well to action scenes, stunts, and screen presence.

Below are standout athletes who built genuine acting résumés. You’ll find the sports they dominated, the big breaks that opened Hollywood’s doors, and the film and TV projects that helped them stick around once they crossed over.

Esther Williams

A national champion swimmer with world-class times as a teen, Esther Williams joined the Aquacade water show after the Olympics she trained for were canceled during World War II. Her aquatic prowess—precision strokes, underwater endurance, and complex synchronized formations—became the foundation of a unique screen persona that no studio had tried before.

MGM signed her and built lavish “aqua-musicals” around her abilities, turning pool sequences into set-piece spectacles. She headlined hits such as ‘Bathing Beauty’ and ‘Million Dollar Mermaid’, and even when plots shifted between romance and comedy, the centerpiece remained extended water choreography filmed with custom rigs and tanks that showcased her swimming background.

Sonja Henie

Before Hollywood, Sonja Henie was a Norwegian figure-skating phenomenon, winning multiple Olympic gold medals through a mix of athletic jumps and balletic edgework that reset audience expectations for women’s singles. She also helped standardize polished presentation in the sport, from costume choices to program structure, which later made her a natural fit for elaborate performance numbers.

Twentieth Century-Fox turned her into a marquee star by staging skating sequences as musical attractions inside studio features. She made her film debut with ‘One in a Million’ and continued with ice-show set pieces in titles like ‘Sun Valley Serenade’, where camera blocking, crane shots, and chorus-line choreography were designed to capture spins, lifts, and footwork she had perfected in competition.

Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey leveraged an Olympic judo bronze medal and a dominant UFC bantamweight run to become one of the most recognizable fighters of her era. Her clinch work, throws, and armbar finishes made her style easy to understand on highlight reels, which translated into mainstream visibility across sports media and live events.

That profile led to film and TV roles that used her grappling foundation for grounded action. She appeared in ensemble projects like ‘The Expendables 3’ and ‘Furious 7’, then took on a security-contractor role in ‘Mile 22’, where fight scenes were built around short-range strikes, takedowns, and stunt coordination that mirrored her competitive tempo.

Gina Carano

Gina Carano rose out of American Muay Thai and early women’s MMA, where she headlined televised cards and helped introduce a broader audience to the sport’s striking-heavy rhythms. Her background—teep kicks, clinch knees, and counterpunching—made her a go-to name when directors wanted authenticity in hand-to-hand sequences.

Steven Soderbergh cast her to lead ‘Haywire’, designing long takes and practical fight beats that featured her speed and balance. She continued with action roles in ‘Fast & Furious 6’ and later stepped into franchise television with ‘The Mandalorian’, where stunt teams integrated judo-style throws and kickboxing beats to fit the series’ close-quarters combat style.

Mercedes Varnado (Sasha Banks)

Known worldwide from professional wrestling, Mercedes Varnado built her reputation on high-intensity matches and athletic storytelling, including springboard offense, precision timing, and safe execution under live conditions—skills that carry directly into stunt collaboration and hitting marks on set. Her work in major arenas established camera awareness and performance stamina long before she reached a soundstage.

She expanded into acting with a recurring role as Koska Reeves in ‘The Mandalorian’. The production drew on her ring background for wire work, grappling transitions, and screen fighting that had to read clearly in armor and helmets, while her dialogue scenes fit into the series’ guild-and-bounty lore without relying on wrestling persona cues.

Becky Lynch (Rebecca Quin)

Before film sets, Becky Lynch trained and performed internationally as a professional wrestler, where travel-heavy schedules and match planning sharpened conditioning, improvisation, and coordination with stunt-adjacent teams. Her in-ring style blends technical holds with explosive sequences that require strict timing and trust—useful traits when rehearsing complex action beats.

She brought that experience to screen projects including an antagonist turn in ‘The Marine 6: Close Quarters’ and voice work in the animated feature ‘Rumble’. She has also appeared on scripted television like ‘Young Rock’, using her background to land physical blocking and to collaborate with crews on safely executed fight business that matches a scene’s tone and camera framing.

Caitlyn Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner first gained global fame in track and field, excelling in the decathlon through a balance of speed events, throws, and jumps that demanded meticulous training cycles and recovery discipline. The publicity that followed introduced her to broadcast studios, endorsements, and on-camera work beyond post-event interviews.

She began acting in narrative projects soon after, taking a film lead in ‘Can’t Stop the Music’ and making guest appearances on series such as ‘CHiPs’. Later, long-running unscripted work kept her in front of audiences, but those early scripted roles are notable as a direct move from elite athletics into professional acting jobs with lines, marks, and character work.

Share your favorite athlete-to-actress crossover in the comments and tell us who you think deserves a spot here next!