The world of Hollywood and the world of professional sports have been known to collide from time to time. Numerous athletes throughout the years have had acting careers, some of whom became better known for their acting work than their sports careers.
From time to time, movies blend fact and fiction by casting sports stars as themselves. Sometimes, these appearances are brief cameos where an athlete will walk on screen for a quick line or two, but, in other instances, sports stars will appear as themselves for entire scenes and perhaps even be integral to the plot of the film itself.
Dan Marino - Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Dan Marino is one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time, having played 17 seasons for the Miami Dolphins. He also played a major role as himself in Jim Carrey's breakout comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective in which the team's beloved mascot goes missing, having been kidnapped.
Marino's "character" is also abducted, having been blamed for a missed field goal which cost his team the championship. He has several scenes in the movie, which was released at the height of his popularity as a football star.
Ronda Rousey - Entourage: The Movie
HBO's Entourage boasted many celebrity cameos over its eight-season run on television, including sports stars like Tom Brady, Ryan Howard, Adrian Peterson, and many others. In the movie version released after the show's finale, MMA fighter Ronda Rousey appears as herself and agrees to a deal with Turtle in which he can take her out on a date if he lasts 30 seconds with her in the ring.
This was Rousey's second appearance in a major motion picture, having played Luna in The Expendables 3 the year prior. Since Entourage, she has appeared in numerous other movies and television shows and even did a voiceover track for the Mortal Kombat 11 video game.
Michael Jordan - Space Jam
In 1994, NBA superstar Michael Jordan tried his hand at baseball, a career move that didn't quite pan out. In 1996, he took on another off-the-court project called Space Jam, a half live-action, half animated basketball movie starring Jordan as himself who get recruited by the Looney Tunes to help them win an all-important match against a team of giant space aliens.
The movie was a major hit and remains a beloved classic to this day. A sequel starring LeBron James is slated for a 2021 release date.
LeBron James - Trainwreck
The aforementioned upcoming Space Jam sequel will not be LeBron James' first time on the silver screen. He played a major role in the 2014 Amy Schumer-Judd Apatow collaboration Trainwreck. He played himself, a friend of Dr. Aaron Connors, one of the film's main characters.
He steals every scene he's in, bringing humor and heart to his role. The film was well-received in general, and LeBron received much acclaim for his performance, one of the best by any athlete in recent cinema history.
Brett Favre - There's Something About Mary
The Farrelly brothers' 1998 comedy There's Something About Mary was a massive hit upon its release, and it remains a genre-defining classic comedy to this day. NFL quarterback Brett Favre appears as himself towards the end of the film, playing Mary's ex-boyfriend, who she realizes she dumped based on bad information. He goes in for a kiss but is interrupted by an autograph request.
After very briefly reuniting with Favre, Mary chooses Ben Stiller's Ted over him, citing that she's "a Niners fan," referring to the San Francisco football team.
Ken Griffey, Jr. - Little Big League
In 1994's Little Big League, a young boy inherits the Minnesota Twins franchise from his grandfather and becomes the team's manager. Despite this unrealistic premise, real-life baseball stars Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey, Jr. appear as themselves in what can best be described as extended cameos.
In the final game of the season, a one-game playoff between the Twins and the Seattle Mariners, Griffey, in particular, is showcased. In the end, he ends up making the game-saving catch that ends the Twins' season.
Derek Jeter - The Other Guys
New York Yankees superstar Derek Jeter has a very brief role in the 2010 buddy cop comedy The Other Guys directed by Adam McKay in which Mark Wahlberg mistakenly shoots him in the hallways between the dugout and the clubhouse.
Jeter actually filmed another scene for the movie, an extended dialogue scene in which he appears as a homeless man, his career having been ruined after the accident. The scene was cut from the film, perhaps due to Jeter's less than Hall of Fame-caliber acting chops, but is available online and on the director's cut DVD.
Mike Tyson - The Hangover
2009's The Hangover is rife with memorable scenes and sequences, but Mike Tyson's segment is one of the best. The trio of antiheroes wakes up from a long night on the town to find a tiger in their hotel bathroom, which happens to belong to Mike Tyson. When he demands it back, they're forced to deliver the tiger to its rightful owner.
Tyson is great in the role, and, despite his intimidating persona, he forgives the three men for absconding with his tiger, sympathizing with their wild tendencies and adventurous spirit.
Lance Armstrong - Dodgeball
In retrospect, this is one of the more controversial athlete cameos in movie history. In 2004's Dodgeball, cyclist Lance Armstrong delivers an inspirational speech to Vince Vaughn's Pete LeFleur, who is contemplating quitting his team.
Armstrong's personal story persuades Pete to change his mind. Of course, Armstrong's fall from grace came years later when his use of performance-enhancing drugs became known to the public. Director Rawson Marshall Thurber regrets having cast him, though he admits that at the time he seemed like the perfect person for the scene.
Babe Ruth - The Pride Of The Yankees
1942's The Pride of the Yankees is widely considered one of the all-time great baseball movies. It's a wonderful biopic, a tribute to the life of Lou Gehrig, whose legendary career and life were cut short by ALS. Gary Cooper plays Gehrig, but he's arguably the film's second-biggest star.
Babe Ruth, one of the best baseball players ever, appears as himself in the film, immortalizing his place in history as Gehrig's most famous teammate. The film garnered 10 Academy Award nominations, and, while the Babe didn't get an Oscar nod, he is undoubtedly a big part of what makes the movie an enduring classic eight decades later.