Star Actors Who Are Also Star Athletes

Chuck Norris

American martial artist, actor, film producer, and screenwriter, Chuck Norris seems to have it all in showbiz and martial arts. He is known for the list of action movies he did back since the 70s, which started from minor roles until he was invited by his friend Bruce Lee to a villain role in the movie Way of the Dragon. Since then, the rest was history. But if you must know, Norris isn’t only practicing martial arts. He is a full-on guru and has earned a black belt in these disciplines. All in all, he’s collected: 9th-degree black belt in Tang Soo Do, 8th-degree in taekwondo, 5th-degree in karate, 3rd in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a black belt in judo. Oh, did you know that he also invented the martial art Chun Kuk Do?

Terry Crews

Famous American actor and comedian Terry Crews is best known for his titanium armor-looking body that could take down any man anytime, anywhere. Many people know that way before Crews started counting TV and movie credits, he was first running backs and quarterbacks at collegiate and pro level. In 1997 after retiring from NFL, he moved back to Los Angeles to pursue a longstanding dream in acting. With a great list of blockbuster movies such as The Expendables film series and quite the hit TV sitcoms like Everybody Hates Chris and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, we know he didn’t just star college football and the NFL but even Hollywood.

Sean Connery

Sean Connery is best known to be the first actor to portray James Bond, quite the original at that, and we know from the movie that James Bond likes his martinis shaken and not stirred. Quite the entertainment that movie is to the degree that each time fans look forward to when the next James Bond movie would be and who will be the next Bond. The young Connery, though swooned fans already before his Bond-like charm. Not many of the younger generation fans of Connery know that he used to compete in bodybuilding! With his impressive body, he competed in Mr. Universe, although he didn’t win, this information does shake us a bit with curiosity.

Phil Robertson

Although Phil Robertson did not become a household name in his early years, still, what’s meant to be will always fall into place. All thanks to the success of his A&E reality show, Duck Dynasty, his journey went full circle in the end. It is sometimes our life’s tough decision to know what to pursue that makes a great degree of difference in our life and our direction. For Phil, it was when he decided to risk a shift from his hunting as his means of helping their family. Being the lifelong Louisianan he is, he played quarterback for his high school, which eventually took him to a college scholarship, and since then, his life was never the same.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Many of you know about the phenomenal time Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) before he went turning almost all of his Hollywood stint to gold. It was an incredible, hyped-up eight full years of stardom and won matches in the world of wrestling for Johnson, but his days of being an athlete went further back. In 1991, he was a player for the iconic Miami Hurricanes as the National Championship team before his short stint in the CFL. Well, that was way back, and now he has the whole Hollywood to compete with. This man got it all, he can dominate a full movie’s credit with just his name!

Jim Gaffigan

It might be a surprise to some as Jim Gaffigan is, first and foremost, a stand-up comedian. However, his countless film cameos and television appearances aren’t just the experiences that make him to the cut as an actor. A long time ago, back when he was pursuing a degree in college, he too played college football in the Big Ten. Gaffigan first attended Purdue, but with his skils, he got qualified to a spot on the Boilermakers roster as a walk-on. Then, Gaffigan transferred to Georgetown a year later and finished his collegiate football career with the Hoyas. We’re not sure how Hot Pockets never signed him as their upside-down Wheaties spokesman, and that is truly a mystery.

Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Crow is an accomplished musician with nine Grammy awards credits to her name. Her albums sold over 50 million copies around the world. Crow’s relationship with the disgruntled cyclist Lance Armstrong has given her another wave of fame, which she handled pretty well. But way before she became a famous musician and rocked out on stages across the globe, Crow was an outstanding member of her high school track team. She was an all-state track star of Kennett High School in Missouri, medaling in the 75-meter low hurdles. Crow also enjoyed and soaked up some sun and the glory of gold before all the glitters and heat of the spotlight.

Emma Watson

Emma Watson won our hearts when she played Hermione Granger in the big-screen adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. A lot of us grew up seeing her year after year as a smartypants in the movie, but she wasn’t just all that on screen. She, too, busted her butt to earn her bachelor’s degree at the prestigious Ivy-League school, Brown University. It’s amazing how she pulled off earning her college degree in between movie roles, and not only that, but she also played collegiate field hockey! It’s hard to imagine how she was able to fit showbiz, college, and sports in a year, but truly, this girl is Emmazing!

Matthew Perry

Matthew Perry is one of the iconic stars in the hit T.V. sitcom of the 90s, Friends, and he graced the screens as Chandler Bing for a decade and probably will be called by that name forever. Okay, that’s too much, it’s not that he didn’t have other credit roles. He was also starred in the T.V. series, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and has several great films with remarkable characters to his name like Fools Rush, The Whole Nine Yards, and 17 Again. He also does voice-over gigs for video games, which is so cool! But what’s way cooler about him is his younger self making a tennis mark competitively, he was nationally ranked! Perry ranked as high as No. 17 in junior singles and No. 3 in junior doubles, and that’s not bad for someone who’d put up to 10 hours of practice every day! Sadly though with tennis Perry never went the Whole Nine Yards.

Jason Lee

As the mustachioed star of the hit T.V. series My Name is Earl, Jason Lee is also known to others for his role in the ’90s and ’00s cult classic films like Mallrats. Before this degree of fame for Lee, though, he first made a name for himself through shredding. Growing up, he was very passionate about skateboarding, as it is very understandable, coming from his roots in Huntington Beach of Sta. Ana, California. His passion led him to become a legit pro skater back in the ’80s through the early ’90s and owned some major moves. Since we all know, now about this part of him, his roles in Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse makes so much sense by relating it to his skater roots.