Who Are The Modern Action Stars?
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If one were to be asked who they believe to be an action film star, the first to come to mind would be Sylvester Stallone. Or perhaps Arnold Schwarzenegger. Large, buff, veins throbbing through tight black muscle shirts (bonus points if it’s strategically ripped and sleeveless). However, when I asked my husband what he believed constituted an action star versus an actor who appears in an action movie here or there, the discussion diverged into who in this new day and age is an action star. Were they as rippled and imposing as the Stallones and Schwarzeneggers before them? Did it come to the stunts they can perform?
For an action movie to become an action movie, the film needs more than someone who can take a couple of punches and run toward (or from) a dangerous situation. Rather than filling the run time with special effects and explosions, modern action films cast actors not just for how well they look the part, but for their versatility and range in past projects. The most successful modern action films to date don’t adhere strictly to the action genre but implement elements from other genres. This practice has carried over to the actors cast in the main roles.
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Keanu Reeves
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The first modern film actor that came to my mind was Keanu Reeves. Though he didn’t start as an action star, Reeves started as a comedy actor in his (first) breakout role in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Looking at Reeve’s résumé, it wasn’t until the 1991 film Point Break that Reeves’ potential for action films was taken into consideration. Jump to 1999 when Keanu experienced a rebrand with the release of The Matrix and its subsequent trilogy and a reboot. Reeves took on a handful of romantic comedy roles before becoming the titular John Wick, a role in which he shared the extensive training regimen he adhered to make the role as authentic as possible. Injuries and all.
John Wick showed audiences that violence can be beautiful and tell a story. It’s not just a barrage of punches, gunshots, and blood. It’s a tale of revenge, loss, and the past always coming back. A tale of a man at war with his baser instincts trying and failing to live in a civilized world where one broken rule leads to a life on the run. And Keanu Reeves does this perfectly.
Bruce Lee
One method of becoming a quintessential action film star is to break the mold of an action movie. One star who implemented this practice to near perfection is the late, great Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee stood out as a smaller man in a world of giants (i.e. Stallone and Schwarzenegger), but this turned him into a man who had to work twice as hard to earn his place as a formidable action star. With a name made for himself as Kato in the Green Hornet, Lee had garnered years of martial arts training. His talent in martial arts led to his being credited as “the man who opened the door on modern mixed martial arts for the entire cinematic landscape.” These cinematic marvels became The Big Boss, Fists of Fury, Way of the Dragon, and (most notably) Enter the Dragon.
What else can be said about Bruce Lee? His discipline brought him a legacy that can still be felt to this day. There is a reason his films are still fondly remembered by many despite being decades old. While not many actors can successfully pull off a one-inch punch, it is because of Bruce Lee that fight sequences can be artful and skilled, given the right person and subject matter.
Jason Statham
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After Keanu Reeves’ stint as Neo in The Matrix franchise, the early 2000s and 2010s saw the action genre gain a resurgence with The Fast and Furious and The Expendables franchises. While these films made stars out of Vin Diesel and breathed new life into Stallone’s career, it also brought Jason Statham into the limelight. With his classic action film star aesthetics and English accent, Statham calls back to early action film stars such as James Bond (played by legends Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan to name a few). What makes Statham earn his spot as a modern action film star is his ability to utilize his martial arts prowess into the necessary showdowns and fight sequences pivotal in action films.
Working alongside other action staples (Stallone, Vin Diesel, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), Statham stood out with his characters being on the morally gray side, allowing Statham more flexibility in fight sequences. This has earned Statham’s “tough guy” characters the label of “Machiavellian ne'er do wells with hearts of gold” according to ScreenRant. With a character in film willing to push boundaries, Statham continues to star in grittier films such as The Transporter series, The Mechanic series, The Italian Job, the Death Race reboot, and Crank.
Linda Hamilton
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Terminator made Arnold Schwarzenegger one of the eighties' most recognizable names and faces of the action genre. Still, it wouldn't be until the sequel that leading lady Linda Hamilton transformed herself into the star of the film rather than the woman who needed to be saved. With more screen time, Hamilton underwent a physical transformation that wowed director (and former husband) James Cameron and co-star Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger passed along his knowledge to Hamilton on which poses would best showcase her muscles and worked together complimenting their strengths as new versions of their characters. Sarah had to learn to trust a T2 working with her to make sure her son John Connor wouldn’t be killed by the T-1000 and Schwarzenegger had to become a T2 with the capability to know when not to kill and when to let someone go.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Hamilton continued her dedication and respect for Sarah Connor well into her Terminator: Dark Fate appearance by undergoing intense physical training for a year before the film’s release. Hamilton followed in the path of co-star and mentor Schwarzenegger by serving as a mentor to Dark Fate co-star Mackenzie Davis, recounting how Davis was “turning her body into a fighting machine” just as she did in 1991.
Sigourney Weaver
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A Final Girl of the Ages. One can’t simply talk about action film franchises without mentioning the woman who inspired Jennifer Lawerence’s portrayal of Katniss in The Hunger Games series, Underworld’s Kate Beckinsale’s in-personal nickname, and who Charlize Theron’s Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road compared herself to. Though Ripley was originally written as a male character, Sigourney Weaver, fresh out of drama school accepted that role. Little did she and the film industry know that Ripley and Sigourney would become the foundation of many more female heroines to come.
Sigourney has the talent and versatility to become her character and not just be a copy-and-paste version of the woman who made her a household name. The first Alien film contains little traditional action sequences, mainly consisting of dialogue and the buildup of suspense. It isn’t until past the midway point of the first film that the famous chest-bursting scene takes place. Most noteworthy scenes occur in Aliens; where Sigourney takes command as Ripley having a true life-and-death battle while retaining a sense of authenticity and sympathy not seen before.
Sigourney brought forth a character in a film not meant to be confined by more feminine coded traits like “needing to be sympathized” by her peers. According to Sigourney, “that doesn’t happen in real life. Ripley doesn’t have time to try to be sympathetic”.
Jackie Chan
Like his predecessor Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan is a prominent Asian-born actor known for displaying his own martial arts style in stunts he insisted on performing. Similarly, Chan crossed “the cultural threshold” often barring Asian actors from gaining consistent mainstream success in the United States. Possibly best known as the second half of the Rush Hour duo with Chris Tucker, Chan had established himself as an action star with impeccable comedic timing.
While his film roles have lessened in the past decade, Chan regulated himself as a mentor to other co-stars similar to playing opposite Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid remake. Considering his repertoire of over 150 films and “his immense popularity in both the Western and Eastern hemispheres”, Chan earned and kept his spot as a modern action film star with martial arts and expertise in weaponry.
Action Stars: More on the Outside
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Modern action films have been experimenting with deeper world-building and character development. Needing more than a visually and physically strong hero, the believability of the actor’s portrayal of the hero allows the progression of the need to avenge themselves or someone close to the protagonist. Filmmakers and audiences watch the hero on their journey of training montages (like the Stallones and Van Dammes before) before the final showdown. Action stars in less successful action films (with loyal fans such as Milla Jovovich of the Resident Evil franchise) contain complex and sometimes flashy fight sequences requiring a lot of endurance from their actors and actresses. A feat that can be near superhuman.
No matter how much action (overt or understated) is written in the film and required of the actor, action film stars of the modern era are more than muscles and stoic glances. Modern action stars learned from the ones that came before them the tireless hours between actor and stunt double, training with the choreographer, fostering a relationship with the film’s director, and building the relationship between film character and film viewer, it’s no wonder the action genre has been getting more attention. According to Premium Beat, “the actors or actresses take on larger-than-life personas, making fans want to see them again and again.” We can see the heroes in their own way, inspiring us to achieve what we think is unachievable.
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Sources: ScreenRant, The Manual, IMBD, Premium Beat, YouTube, Entertainment Weekly
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