In our Talent Profiles series, we shine a light on some of the most talented names that MN2S has worked with. This week, we’re spotlighting four stars of television and film known for taking leading roles in iconic action movies.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
As a world champion bodybuilder, Hollywood action hero, prosperous businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, best-selling author, and 38th Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger is well-known all over the world for his various accomplishments. This well-known athlete and actor, who was born in 1947 in Thal, Austria, dominated the sport of competitive bodybuilding by the time he was 20 years old and became the youngest man to ever win the Mr. Universe title. Schwarzenegger soon established himself in Hollywood while using the alias Arnold Strong for his debut film, Hercules in New York. Conan The Barbarian, a sword and sorcery epic, became a movie office success in 1982, giving him his big break.
When Schwarzenegger played the title role in James Cameron’s sci-fi blockbuster Terminator in 1984, he blew up the screen and cemented his place in cinema history. For roles he portrayed in the movie, he is the only actor to be listed in both categories of the American Film Institute’s Hundred Years of Heroes and Villains. Over $3 billion has been made by his movies globally to date. Schwarzenegger won a historic recall election to become the 38th Governor of the State of California in 2003, ushering in a period of creative leadership and exceptional public service. Most recently he appeared in Killing Gunther (2017), directed by Taran Killam, and reprised his iconic role as The Terminator in a new instalment in the franchise.
Milla Jovovich
The Fifth Element (1997), Ultraviolet (2006), and the Resident Evil (2002) series are all milestones in Milla Jovovich’s acting career. She is also a supermodel, fashion designer, singer, actor, and public figure of Ukrainian descent. In addition to making guest roles on television shows including Married with Children (1987) (in 1989 as a French exchange student), Paradise (1988), and Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, Milla made her acting debut in the Disney Channel film The Night Train to Kathmandu (1988). (1990). Twelve-year-old Milla made her acting debut in 1988’s Two Moon Junction, directed and written by Zalman King, under the name Milla.
As a young actor in the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, she appeared in a number of supporting parts in movies and on television before starring in Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991). She first appeared in the sci-fi movie The Fifth Element (1997) with Bruce Willis before playing the titular role in Joan of Arc (1999). The action-packed thriller Resident Evil (2002), which is based on the enormously successful computer game Resident Evil, was a box office hit for Milla in the United States and other countries. Paul W.S. Anderson was the writer and director. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), Resident Evil: Retribution (2012), and Resident Evil: Resurgence (2014) all featured Milla reprising her role as Alice, the zombie-slaying protagonist. A significant part of Milla’s life is spent working for charities. She has worked closely with The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and The Wildlands Project, and she served as Master of Ceremonies and co-chaired with Elizabeth Taylor the amfAR and Cinema Against AIDS event at the Venice Film Festival.
Vinnie Jones
Vincent Peter Jones was born on January 5, 1965 in Watford, England. He first came to public notice as a professional footballer, playing in the English Football League. He has played for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelsea, and Queens Park Rangers. He made his first acting appearance in the British comedy/thriller, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), at age 33, although he had previous presented a video on football’s hard men (for which he was censured by the Football Association). In the box office hit X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), he played “Cain Marko,” also referred to as “The Juggernaut.” Prior to that, he costarred with Amanda Bynes in Dreamworks’ 2006 film She’s the Man, in which he portrayed a scowling soccer coach, demonstrating both his likability and comedic side. In addition, he played the lead in the 2006 film Johnny Was, which starred Roger Daltrey, Eriq La Salle, and Lennox Lewis. He also made an appearance in the 2007 independent film The Riddle, which also starred Vanessa Redgrave and Derek Jacobi.
He has won a number of prestigious awards over the years, which highlight his accomplishments as a gifted actor. He received Satellite TV Europe Magazine’s “Personality of the Year” award in 1997. Jones was named the “Man of the Year” in 1998 by GQ Magazine. He received the Odeon Audience Award for Best Actor in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), as well as the Sir James Carreras Award Variety Club of GB’s award for Outstanding New Talent. Jones won the Best Supporting Actor prize for Night at the Golden Eagle (2001) at the New York Film Festival in 2002, and he also won the Best Newcomer prize for Slipstream (2005) at the Sci-Fi Film Festival in London in 2005.
Rosario Dawson
This talented and beautiful actress has made a name for herself as one of Hollywood’s most bankable leading ladies. When Dawson was only sixteen years old, she starred in edgy, urban filming from 1995 that really showcases her star power. Her career actually began when she was a young child and made a brief appearance on the children’s programme Sesame Street (1969). According to the legend, two photographers “discovered” her as a teenager standing on her front porch step. One of them, Harmony Korine, an aspiring screenwriter, believed the sixteen-year-lack old’s of experience made her perfect for the contentious cult movie Kids (1995), in which she would play a sexually active teenager. After that, it took some time for Rosario’s film career to take off, but by the late 1990s, she had landed a number of independent projects. Since then, she has transitioned into mainstream hits (and misses), and her earthy, provocative, and uninhibited approach to her roles has excited viewers.
The tense actioner Unstoppable (2010) with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine; the comedy/fantasy Zookeeper (2011) opposite Dalekmania (1995); the romantic dramedy 10 Years (2011) with Channing Tatum; the crime drama Fire with Fire (2012) with Bruce Willis; the romantic comedy Top Five (2014) with Chris Rock; and the action adventure Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) with Woody Harrelson are some of the more recent performances that feature Dawson acting opposite some of Hollywood’s leading movie stars. Additionally, she has played the lead in independent films with her own fierce characters, including the thriller Unforgettable (2017) and the title role in the dramedy Drunk on Love (2017).