Eleven action movie heroes, from Bruce Lee and Clint Eastwood to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise, Dwayne Johnson and Milla Jovovich, with the stunts, injuries and lucky breaks behind their fame.
Action cinema needs a special kind of star: someone who can sell a punchline and a punch, survive dangerous stunts and carry a blockbuster on their shoulders. This collection brings together eleven of them, from Clint Eastwood's Westerns and Bruce Lee's martial arts films to the muscle-bound heroes of the 1980s, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, and the modern era of Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Dwayne Johnson, Liam Neeson, Mel Gibson and Milla Jovovich.
Many of them took unlikely routes to fame. Schwarzenegger went AWOL from the Austrian army to win a bodybuilding contest, Stallone wrote the first draft of Rocky in 84 hours while he had $106 in the bank, Bruce Willis worked as a nuclear plant guard and private investigator, and Liam Neeson drove forklifts for Guinness. Dwayne Johnson once wanted to join the CIA, and Bruce Lee was the cha-cha champion of Hong Kong.
The physical price of action is high. Stallone was nearly killed by a punch from Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV and fractured his neck on The Expendables, Bruce Willis suffered permanent hearing loss filming Die Hard, and Tom Cruise completed a stunt immediately after breaking his ankle. Cameras even had to be adjusted to capture Bruce Lee's speed.
Their careers also hold some of Hollywood's biggest near-misses: Frank Sinatra was offered both Die Hard and Dirty Harry, Will Smith turned down Neo in The Matrix, and Tom Cruise was once considered for Iron Man. Choose a star below and read fifteen facts about them.
Every item on this page, with the one fact most people get wrong about it.
| Name | Where you'll meet it | The fact worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Arnold Schwarzenegger | The Terminator, Predator | He was a self-made millionaire before he starred in any blockbuster. |
| Sylvester Stallone | Rocky, Rambo | He wrote the first draft of Rocky in 84 hours with $106 in the bank. |
| Bruce Willis | Die Hard | He earned more than $100 million from The Sixth Sense. |
| Dwayne Johnson | Fast & Furious, Jumanji | His $5.5 million fee for The Scorpion King set a Guinness record for a first starring role. |
| Tom Cruise | Top Gun, Mission: Impossible | Aladdin's look in Disney's animated film was modelled on him. |
| Bruce Lee | Enter the Dragon | Cameras sometimes had to be adjusted to capture his speed. |
| Liam Neeson | Taken, Schindler's List | He expected Taken to go straight to DVD. |
| Mel Gibson | Mad Max, Braveheart | He turned up at the Mad Max auditions with his face bruised from a bar fight and won the lead. |
| Will Smith | Men in Black, Independence Day | He had eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in North America. |
| Clint Eastwood | Dirty Harry, spaghetti Westerns | He survived a Pacific plane crash by swimming three miles to shore. |
| Milla Jovovich | Resident Evil, The Fifth Element | She helped create a working alien language for The Fifth Element. |
Biggest First-Lead Salary
$5.5 million
Dwayne Johnson's pay for The Scorpion King earned a Guinness record for an actor's first top-billed role. Dwayne Johnson
Longest Box-Office Streak
8 films
Will Smith became the only actor with eight consecutive films grossing over $100 million in North America. Will Smith
Biggest Single Payday
$100 million+
Bruce Willis earned more than $100 million from The Sixth Sense through a profit-sharing deal. Bruce Willis
Fastest Script
84 hours
Sylvester Stallone wrote the first draft of Rocky in about 84 hours. Sylvester Stallone
The Terminator, Predator
Arnold Schwarzenegger became the youngest-ever Mr. Universe at 20 after going AWOL from the Austrian army to compete. His voice was dubbed in his first film, and he talked James Cameron into casting him as the Terminator rather than the hero. He later persuaded manufacturers to build a civilian Hummer and served as governor of California.
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Rocky, Rambo
A complication at birth gave Sylvester Stallone his trademark lopsided look. Before fame he cleaned lion cages and sold his beloved dog Butkus. He was nominated for an Oscar for playing Rocky Balboa nearly four decades apart.
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Die Hard
Bruce Willis was born on a military base in West Germany and cured his childhood stutter through acting. He beat 3,000 actors for his breakout TV role in Moonlighting and suffered permanent hearing loss filming Die Hard. He also scored a top-five pop hit on Motown Records.
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Fast & Furious, Jumanji
Dwayne Johnson studied criminology hoping to join the CIA and comes from a famous Samoan wrestling dynasty. His first acting role was playing his own father, and his production company is named after his lowest financial moment. He bought the bankrupt XFL for $15 million.
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Top Gun, Mission: Impossible
Tom Cruise nearly became a Catholic priest and overcame severe dyslexia to read scripts. He flies fighter jets, owns a WWII Mustang and can hold his breath underwater for six minutes. Japan even celebrates an official Tom Cruise Day.
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Enter the Dragon
Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco during a Cantonese opera tour and became Hong Kong's cha-cha champion. He studied philosophy at the University of Washington, coached Hollywood celebrities and created Jeet Kune Do. At his peak he weighed just 135 pounds.
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Taken, Schindler's List
Liam Neeson was an amateur boxing champion and drove forklifts for Guinness before acting. He turned down James Bond because of an ultimatum from his wife, and Star Wars sets had to be rebuilt to fit his height. He is afraid of heights and of horses.
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Mad Max, Braveheart
Born in the US and raised in Australia, Mel Gibson was the first "Sexiest Man Alive" and owns Mago Island in Fiji. He self-financed The Passion of the Christ and turned down James Bond. His father was a Jeopardy! champion.
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Men in Black, Independence Day
Will Smith won the first rap Grammy but boycotted the ceremony, then went bankrupt before The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air revived him. He turned down Neo in The Matrix to make Wild Wild West. He can solve a Rubik's Cube and speaks fluent Spanish.
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Dirty Harry, spaghetti Westerns
Universal once fired Clint Eastwood over his voice and neck size, and Frank Sinatra was originally cast as Dirty Harry. He never washed his poncho across three Westerns, despite being allergic to horses. He became mayor of Carmel to overturn a ban on ice cream.
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Resident Evil, The Fifth Element
Born in Soviet Kyiv, Milla Jovovich was a controversial child model and released a folk-pop album at 18. She was a fan of the Resident Evil games before starring in the films and does many of her own stunts. She wore real heavy armour to play Joan of Arc.
Read the full article →8 questions, every answer is somewhere above.
1. Which role did Arnold Schwarzenegger convince James Cameron to give him?
2. What did Sylvester Stallone sell out of desperation before Rocky?
3. Which singer was offered the lead in Die Hard before Bruce Willis?
4. Which Disney character's look was modelled on Tom Cruise?
5. What did Bruce Lee study at the University of Washington?
6. Why did Liam Neeson turn down the role of James Bond?
7. Which role did Will Smith turn down to make Wild Wild West?
8. Why did Clint Eastwood run for mayor of Carmel?
There is no single answer, but Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Tom Cruise are usually at the top of the list. Will Smith holds a unique box-office record with eight consecutive $100 million films, and Dwayne Johnson is among the highest-grossing stars of recent decades.
Yes, famously so. He flies real fighter jets, owns a WWII Mustang, learned to hold his breath underwater for six minutes and once finished a stunt immediately after breaking his ankle.
They were fierce box-office rivals in the 1980s. Schwarzenegger once tricked Stallone into making the comedy Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot by spreading rumours that he wanted the role himself. Yet in 1991 both of them co-founded the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain with Bruce Willis.
So fast that cameras sometimes had to be adjusted to capture his movements clearly. He weighed only about 135 pounds at his peak yet could deliver his famous one-inch punch with enormous force.
Schwarzenegger was a world-champion bodybuilder, Dwayne Johnson a college football player and professional wrestler, Liam Neeson a teacher and amateur boxer, and Milla Jovovich a supermodel and folk-pop musician.
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