Funny: Gary Oldman Speaks out against Athletes as Actors

There are a few exceptions to this rule, but for the most part I just cannot stand it when a celebrity gets a movie role BECAUSE THEY ARE FAMOUS.

Yeah, I was going to find some pretty words to dance around that topic and find a better way of delivering the message because this is what I do. But I am going to let Gary Oldman – an actor – share exactly how I feel about seeing athletes in movie roles.

Of course I feel that the same thing can be said about musicians who try to be movie stars too. This is a general rule. Some entertainers have proven themselves outside their initial profession and can justify being hired as actors. And I don’t even mind when a small supporting role is given to a famous person where it works in their favor

Eminem did a great job playing a young upstart rapper from Detroit competing in the seedy club rap battles scene. I heard he spent years researching that role. But he hasn’t been in much else but his own music videos since. And there is likely a reason for it.

Michael Jordan [edited] did a fine job playing a Basketball player in Space Jam alongside animated characters of the Looney Tunes. But Shaquille O’Neal proved to be embarrassingly bad in the feature film Steel, based on a Superman offshoot character.

Exceptions that earned their right to call themselves actors? Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Mark Wahlberg and Cher.

If I paint a house, I still cannot call myself a painter. If I sing a song, I am not a musician. Yeah, everyone has to start somewhere, but just because an athlete is popular and good at being an athlete, it doesn’t mean they should get top billing in a movie.

They should earn it, just like real actors do.

Who are YOUR favourite non-actor celebrities that have proven themselves as actors?