Actors Who Failed To Be Great Action Heroes

There are hundreds of actors who have taken up roles that personify themselves as action heroes but only handfuls have established themselves in the said roles. Easy to say, it isn’t easy donning the role of an action hero. And it is even harder to keep on playing that action hero and wow-ing the audience consistently and repeatedly. Here’s a look at those actors who failed to impress as action heroes but were phenomenal in other roles.

1. Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck shines as Batman in his latest outing. Though, Ben Affleck’s Batman wasn’t encouraged as a solo venture. Affleck’s Batman had the correct ingredients to become a favorite, long-running action hero flick, but he was let down by a poorly driven team and bad quality of movies he appeared in before Batman happened. The noteworthy point here is that he has already appeared in action movies like Pearl Harbor, Daredevil, and Paycheck. But he has faltered in most of them, if not all.

It doesn’t seem likely that he will star in an action movie soon or ever. He already has a flourishing career as a filmmaker to rely on making the return to the genre even harder.

2. Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg’s major failures have come when he has been a part of the action genre. This statement considers the exception of ‘The Happening’. Some of these movies are box office hits but these aren’t fan favorites. Mark is well suited for crime & suspense thrillers and this is no secret. The action movies he is a part of are good at best including hits like the Planet of the Apes, The Italian Job remakes. Mark Wahlberg is a gifted comic talent and a reliable character for real-life dramas, but action just doesn’t work for him.

3. Sam Worthington

Sam Worthington is now a renowned name in the Hollywood industry. He wasn’t when he signed Terminator Salvation. Terminator Salvation put him right in the spotlight leading to an overnight boost to his fame. He followed this fame by adding Avatar to his hat of diverse roles. Avatar went on to become the highest-grossing film, now overtaken by Avengers: Endgame.

Despite this fantastic run, he never came close to gaining similar momentum despite trying hands on different genres including action. The Debt and Man of a Ledge were successful but nothing came close to when Worthington was in an ensemble cast. Avatar’s sequel will be his highest profile film in quite some time.

4. Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell is a remarkable actor when working on the right projects. He seems to have finally found his footing after trying hard to make a name for himself as an action hero.

His roles in The Recruit, S.W.A.T., Miami Vice can be described as mediocre at best. These movies highlight his shortcomings as an action hero. All these movies are debacles at best and weren’t received well by critics or the audience.

It seems as if all these actors join the likes of Ethan Hawke, Sean Penn, John Cusack when it comes to making it big in the action genre. They only thing they have in common are that they are all phenomenal in all genres except action.