Though the action movie genre is often considered to be "an old boys club" which has mostly male actors playing the lead roles, women have been known to truly dominate the scene, if given the chance. There are actually many well known and acclaimed action movies that have female leads. Genres need not be divided by gender and many action movies have a universal appeal that transcends outdated stereotypes.
Each decade, a select few actors dominate the scene and are lucky enough to become household names. Coming hot off the trail of the "girl power" themes of the '90s, these action heroines redefined the genre and showed that girls can kick just as much butt as boys can.
Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman began acting in action movies in the 1990s starring in 1991's little-known Robin Hood, 1997's ill-fated Batman & Robin (as Poison Ivy), and 1998's The Avengers (not related to Marvel). But her well-known action roles already came in the 2000s.
In 2003 and 2004, Thurman played the lead role of The Bride in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol.1 and Kill Bill: Vol.2 - her character is still considered one of the most iconic female characters ever. She also starred in 2003's Paycheck and is set to act in John McTiernan's action sci-fi movie Tau Ceti Four.
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz's action movie history also started in the 90s with her roles in 1994's Death Machine and 1996's Chain Reaction. Her most well-known role is probably Evelyn Carnahan in 1999's The Mummy and 2001's The Mummy Returns.
Then followed more roles in action movies: 2005's cult classic Constantine, 2006's fantasy Eragon, and 2008's comedy The Brothers Bloom. She later starred in 2012's The Bourne Legacy and is set to appear in Marvel's Black Widow.
Emma Watson
Emma Watson hasn't appeared in many action-heavy movies, but she has definitely become one of the biggest female stars of the 2000s thanks to her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter franchise.
In fact, both 2007's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and 2009's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince are considered action movies due to the abundance of action sequences. Another film which falls under the "action" genre that Watson has appeared in is 2014's Noah.
Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez has starred in eighteen action movies since 2001 with 2021's F9 being her nineteenth. In fact, her first action role was in 2001's The Fast and the Furious (she then returned for her role in other installments of the franchise in 2009, 2013, 2015, and 2017).
In 2002, she co-starred with Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil. In the 2000s and 2010s, Rodriguez starred in various other action movies, but the biggest one was undoubtedly 2009's Avatar. By the way, she also appeared in 2019's Alita: Battle Angel.
Halle Berry
Halle Berry had her first action roles in the 1990s including 1991's The Last Boy Scout, 1993's The Program, and 1996's Executive Decision, but her big action roles came in the 2000s and continued in 2010s.
Her most well-known character is Storm from 2000's X-Men, 2003's X2, 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, and 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past. She was also a Bond girl in 2002's Die Another Day and Catwoman in 2004's ill-fated Catwoman. She later had roles in 2012's Cloud Atlas, 2017's Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and 2019's John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum.
Megan Fox
Megan Fox was one of the biggest stars of the 2000s and quickly became a household name by the end of the decade. Though she is better known for her blockbusting roles, she also managed to deliver some incredible performances in smaller movies. Her first action movie role was in 2003's Bad Boys II.
In 2007, she starred in the critically and commercially successful Transformers returning for the role in 2009. In 2010, she starred in Jonah Hex. And then in 2014 and 2016, she starred in the live-action adaptation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its sequel.
Kate Beckinsale
Kate Beckinsale has starred in multiple action movies in the 2000s and 2010s including 2001's Pearl Harbor, 2004's Van Helsing, 2009's Whiteout, 2012's Contraband, and 2012's Total Recall.
But Beckinsale's most prominent role is her lead character Selene in the Underworld franchise which has been running since 2003. She is also set to star in Tanya Wexler's Jolt which is currently in post-production.
Keira Knightley
Though Keira Knightley is best known for her roles in period dramas, her most famous performance is that of Elizabeth Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise running from 2003 to 2017. But there are other action movies she has starred in.
Her action movie history began with 1999's Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace where she played Sabe, Padme's double (Knightley and Natalie Portman are surprisingly similar). Her other action movies include 2004's King Arthur, 2005's Domino, 2014's Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, and 2015's Everest.
Angelina Jolie
Along with starring in action movies, Angelina Jolie has actually given her voice to several animated action movies - Tigress in the Kung Fu Panda trilogy. Her first action role was in 2000's Gone in Sixty Seconds alongside Nicolas Cage. Then, in 2001 and 2003, she played Lara Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and its sequel.
After that came 2004's Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Alexander, 2005's Mr. and Mrs. Smith, 2007's Beowulf, 2008's Wanted, 2010's Salt and The Tourist, and 2014's Maleficent. She will also appear in Marvel's The Eternals.
Milla Jovovich
Though her first action movie role was 1992's forgotten Kuffs, her true breakthrough came in Luc Besson's 1997 sci-fi comedy The Fifth Element. After that came the incredibly successful Resident Evil franchise running from 2002 to 2016.
Her other action movie roles include 2002's No Good Deed, 2006's Ultraviolet, 2011's The Three Musketeers, 2015's Survivor, 2016's Zoolander 2, 2018's Future World, 2019's Hellboy, and others.