Summary

• Action stars like Harrison Ford and Sylvester Stallone have shown their incredible range in roles beyond action movies.
• Jerry Maguire, Locke, and The Wrestler highlight Tom Cruise, Tom Hardy, and Mickey Rourke’s versatile acting skills.
• Keanu Reeves shines in The Gift, proving his ability to deliver a compelling performance beyond his iconic action roles.

It’s often easy for audiences to dismiss the acting talents of action stars, but some action icons have delivered Oscar-worthy performances which silenced their critics. Action movie stars are burdened with the public perception that their work is often less impressive than dramatic actors. While it’s true that most action movies don’t rely on powerful performances, this doesn’t mean that the actors in the leading roles are any less capable. Sometimes an actor just needs to step into a different type of role for audiences to see how talented they truly are.

Even the best performances in action movies rarely receive any award-season buzz, and this only adds to the perception that action movie stars are less talented than their counterparts in other genres. In reality, action movies with incredible stunts and fight scenes will usually fall flat if the lead actor isn’t compelling enough. Although the explosive spectacle of action movies can easily distract from the central performances, action stars often show surprising ranges in other movies. Some action movie icons have delivered Oscar-worthy performances in different genres, earning them far more critical acclaim.

10 The Sixth Sense (1999)

Bruce Willis

Willis can consider himself unlucky to miss out on an Oscar nomination for
The Sixth Sense,
seeing as his co-stars Haley Joel Osment and Toni Collette were both nominated.

Bruce Willis cemented his status as action movie royalty with his portrayal of John McClane in the Die Hard franchise, but he also starred in Pulp Fiction, Armageddon, and Twelve Monkeys. Arguably his most powerful performance, however, came in the M. Night Shyamalan psychological thriller The Sixth Sense. Willis can consider himself unlucky to miss out on an Oscar nomination for The Sixth Sense, seeing as his co-stars Haley Joel Osment and Toni Collette were both nominated. Willis is no less pivotal to the film’s success, and his performance as a conflicted child psychologist is incredibly nuanced.

9 Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Harrison Ford

Blade Runner gave Harrison Ford one of his most famous roles, as Rick Deckard, but his reserved performance doesn’t show the full range of his acting talents. Blade Runner 2049 brings Harrison Ford back for a look into Deckard’s future, and his performance is a more subtle and interesting approach the second time around. Ford also returned for sequels to Star Wars and Indiana Jones decades later, and each of his performances in these legacy sequels bring new dimensions to popular old characters. Ford isn’t the sole focus of Blade Runner 2049, but he’s vital to its success.

8 Creed (2015)

Sylvester Stallone

Like Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone also reprised one of his most famous roles decades later, and he brought the character into new territory. Stallone was nominated for Best Actor for his performance as Rocky Balboa in the original Rocky film, and he received another nomination for Creed. This feat added him to the exclusive list of actors nominated for multiple Oscars for the same character, which is especially impressive considering the gap between the two movies. Rocky Balboa evolves a lot as a character, and Creed shows him as a tough but caring mentor.

7 Jerry Maguire (1996)

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise delivered a number of great performances in dramatic roles between Top Gun and Mission: Impossible. In recent years, he has established himself as the biggest action star in Hollywood, but the quality of his dramatic work in the 1990s shouldn’t be forgotten. As well as his brilliant role as a sports agent in Jerry Maguire, Cruise shone in Magnolia, A Few Good Men, and Eyes Wide Shut. Jerry Maguire is packed with great quotes that allow Cruise to show his comedic side as well as his emotional depth.

6 Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

Michelle Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh won the Oscar for Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All At Once, but most of her career has been spent in Hong Kong action movies and wuxia martial arts films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Yeoh has also appeared in huge action franchises such as James Bond and the MCU, and Everything Everywhere All At Once also makes use of her action pedigree at times. Everything Everywhere All At Once is a multiverse film, and it requires Yeoh to play several different iterations of the same character. Some of them are funny, while others are tragic.

5 Locke (2013)

Tom Hardy

Locke takes place entirely within a moving car, as Tom Hardy’s character talks to several different people on the phone. It’s a bold narrative stunt, and it only works because of a terrific performance. Single-location movies aren’t too uncommon, but it’s rare for one to rely so heavily on the performance of just one actor. Tom Hardy’s most famous movies include big-budget action thrillers like Mad Max: Fury Road and The Dark Knight Rises. Locke requires a completely different skillset from the British actor, and he proves that he is up to the task.

4 Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

Sigourney Weaver

Although Sigourney Weaver’s most famous performances have come in sci-fi blockbusters like Alien, Ghostbusters and Avatar, she has shown that she is much more than just an action hero. Gorillas in the Mist features one of Weaver’s most nuanced performances. She plays the real-life primatologist Dian Fossey, who puts herself in harm’s way to protect the endangered gorilla population in Rwanda from poachers. Gorillas in the Mist earned Weaver a nomination for Best Actress, but she lost out to Jodie Foster. Weaver has delivered a number of Oscar-worthy performances, but she is yet to win.

3 The Wrestler (2008)

Mickey Rourke

Mickey Rourke was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in The Wrestler, but he lost out to Sean Penn for Milk. Rourke would have been a worthy winner, as The Wrestler showed the true depth of his talents for the first time since roles in the Charles Bukowksi biopic Barfly and other films in the late 1980s. Rourke is best-known as an action star who can play villains as well as heroes, as he showed in Iron Man 2. In many ways, The Wrestler can be seen as a metaphor for Rourke’s career struggles.

2 JCVD (2008)

Jean-Claude Van Damme

JCVD features Jean-Claude Van Damme as a fictionalized version of himself. In the world of JCVD, Van Damme is a washed-up action star who becomes involved in a hostage situation at a bank. There are still plenty of action thrills as Van Damme helps his fellow hostages overcome the robbers, but JCVD is also a deep meditation on Van Damme’s life and career. In one memorable scene, Van Damme breaks the fourth wall to deliver a lengthy monologue about his troubled past and where he finds himself on his journey. It’s boldly unconventional, but Van Damme plays it perfectly.

1 The Gift (2000)

Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves has often been unjustly maligned by some, but
The Gift
is an undeniable display of his acting prowess.

Keanu Reeves has often been unjustly maligned by some, but The Gift is an undeniable display of his acting prowess. The Gift is teeming with superb actors, including Cate Blanchett and Hilary Swank, but it’s Reeves who steals the show as an abusive and possessive husband. Keanu Reeves’ most popular performances usually show off his natural charisma, but The Gift casts him against type, and he rises to the challenge. His character in The Gift creates a stark contrast to The Matrix or John Wick, but Reeves is just as compelling.