List Rules Vote up your favorite 45-and-under action stars.
Bruce Willis, Angelina Jolie, and Jackie Chan showed the world what a badass action film star is capable of, albeit over the past 30 years or so. With the average age of the industry's greatest action heroes on a steep uptick, who are the up-and-coming action film stars destined to take the place of the Fast and Furious crew when the franchise starts following Dom's ability to get around with a walker? Rising action film stars such as Maisie Williams, Tom Hardy, and Donald Glover look poised to take over as the premier heroes of Hollywood's coming action flicks. When your favorite action franchises start reaching the double-digit installments, these young action stars will be the ones taking the reins. As much as viewers love Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan, they can't be action stars forever.
Captain America himself, Evans can withstand the cold in Snowpiercer and the heat of playing an Israeli Mossad agent in the thriller The Red Sea Diving Resort.
Chris Hemsworth is best known for his role as Thor in the MCU. He's arguably become a more interesting actor since Taika Waititi gave the God of Thunder some comedy chops in Ragnarok.
The formerly chunky Parks and Recreation alum now serves as the hero of a few major action franchises. He's Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy and Owen Grady, the Raptor Whisper, in Jurassic World.
Best known as Spider-Man, the young Brit can also be seen in Doug Liman's 20199 dystopian thriller Chaos Walking. As an added bonus, he's a trained gymnast, meaning Holland really can do all his own stunts.
She's Black Widow in Iron Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier,and all of the subsequentAvengers films, which is probably a safer bet than trying to revive Motoko Kusanagi as a white woman in 2017's Ghost in the Shell remake.
Thanks to the success of Wonder Woman, Gadot is slated for several more DC appearances, including a sequel to her breakout role. Even when superpowers fail her, she still gets to be badass in Furious 7.
Fahrenheit 451 was met with mixed reviews, but it does serve as a reminder that Wallace from The Wire can imbue even the silliest of roles with drama. A double-dipper in the MCU, Jordan's played both the Human Torch in Fantastic Four and the villainous N'Jadaka (AKA Erik "Killmonger" Stevens) in Black Panther.
The lone X-Man (or woman!) in The Avengers, this Scarlet Witch has been upstaging her Full House-starring siblings with leading roles in adaptations of the horror-thrillers Oldboy,Silent House, and Godzilla.
Yes, he's the MCU's Winter Soldier. But as audiences of I, Tonya know, the Romanian actor can be just as dangerous with a sagging mustache as he is with a machine gun and robot arm. Look for him in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, I'm Not Here, Destroyer, and reprising his role as Bucky Barnes in the next Avengers.
As long as he puts a mask on, Tom Hardy's good to go. Whether it's Bane, Venom, Mad Max, or the pilot from Dunkirk, the actor can be counted on to spit out lines without ever moving his mouth (as far as anyone knows).
Karen Gillan is instantly recognizable. Whether it's in a breakout horror movie like Oculus, a silly A-lister romp like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, or Marvel blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Infinity War, Gillan just stands out. Expect more of her.
The real star of the 2018 Star Wars spin-off isn't the self-titled Solo, but comedian/producer/actor/Emmy winner Childish Gambino, AKA Donald Glover. The Atlanta star and creator takes over Billy Dee William's role in this prequel as Lando Calrissian, already a fan favorite.
Just based on prior performances, you could already put J-Law in the Action Hero Hall of Fame. She's played roles from Katniss to Mystique, with detours into space travel (Passengers) and spying (Red Sparrow). Look out for her reviving her X-Men role in 2019's Dark Phoenix.
Falcon from MCU. Martin Luther King from All the Way. Sergeant J.T. Sanborn from The Hurt Locker. "Guy with fedora" from The Adjustment Bureau. Truly, Anthony Mackie can do it all.
After her turn in Kick-Ass, Chloë Grace Moretz feels destined to be an action star. Her stone-cold delivery and remarkable stunt talents make her an ideal action heroine. Just give her her own John Wick or Atomic Blonde and watch her shine.
Chris Hemsworth's younger brother played opposite Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games and opposite some giant aliens in Independence Day: Resurgence.
Is it weird to find out Pennywise the Dancing Clown is younger than his co-stars in the sequel to IT? Don't worry, he's not clowning around with his other roles in movies like Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, and Assassination Nation.
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Dafne Keen13
This little spitfire is best known for playing Wolverine's kickass daughter in Logan. While she doesn't have any confirmed projects on the horizon, it's doubtful you'll be waiting very long to see Dafne extend her filmography (as well as those adamantium feet-claws).
After paying his dues with the Coen Brothers on Inside Llewyn Davis, the Cuban and Guatemalan-American actor wound up in some major blockbuster franchises, including Star Wars, X-Men, and The Bourne Legacy.
The Game of Thrones starlet follows her on-screen older sis Sophie Turner into a post-Game of Thrones stint at the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters; she headlines New Mutants as Rahne Sinclair, better known as Wolfsbane.
Millie Bobby Brown continues to break fans' brains as Eleven in Netflix's Stranger Things. That will definitely help ensure her success opposite a giant lizard monster in 2019'sGodzilla: King of the Monsters.
Sure, Get Out and Black Panther are what made the British thespian known to the public, but it's still his Black Mirror episode, "Fifteen Million Merits," that sees Daniel in actual dance mode. Look for him in Widows, a joint Steve McQueen/Gillian Flynn action flick that's as surreal as it sounds.
The new Lara Croft already has fans asking "Angelina who?" With other appearances in Jason Bourne (2016) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Vikander has all the starting points needed to become a bonafide action hero.
Who wouldn't want to see Quicksilver in a standalone film (or more likely, a music video)? The American Horror Story stalwart is expanding his range at a breakneck pace, starring in The Pirates of Somalia and American Animals.
Gone, but not forgotten on Game of Thrones, Dormers still pops up in the occasional explosive role, whether it be the tattooed documentarian Cressida in Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Private Lorraine in Captain America: The First Avenger,or in Mass Effect: Andromeda as Dr. Lexi T’Perr.
The world needs to know about Ezra Miller, who has quietly killed it in indies like Perks of Being a Wallflower before moving onto more action-packed fare like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Justice League. He'll also be starring in DC's yet-untitled Flash feature film.
The second-best Spider-Man, the amazing Andrew Garfield proves himself adaptable enough to work under Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge), Martin Scorsese (Silence), and Andy Serkis (Breathe).
Yes, you probably know him better as Charlie Kelly from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. But the late bloomer also pops up in CGI-heavy franchises like The Lego Movie, Pacific Rim and Hotel Artemis.
Whether you know him from Game of Thrones, Phineas and Ferb, or Love, Actually, young master Sangster is already an old hand for ensemble roles action flicks: Maze Runner, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the Amazon Western Godless.
Known for having the longest legs in movie poster history, thanks to Ready Player One, Sheridan also played Baby Cyclops in X-Men: Apocalypse and has been confirmed to return for 2019's Dark Phoenix. Young though he is, Sheridan already has a decent amount of credits for roles in movies like Dark Places, The Stanford Prison Experiment,Mud, and Tree of Life.
Say what you will about him, but Miles Teller can run the hell out of an action film. He starred in Divergent, War Dogs, Only the Brave,Thank You For Your Service, and Bleed For This. Oh yeah, and Fantastic Four, though it's polite to never, ever mention his turn as Mr. Fantastic.
The star of Shane Black's Predator remake is technically just a smidge younger than Arnold was when he headlined the original series. Still, Boyd holds his own against some big names already, with roles in Gone Girl, Narcos, and Logan.
Percy Jackson! When you grow up playing such a beloved character, you might find yourself resting on your already-existing credits. Not Logan, who plays bad boys as well as good men. He's fought alongside Brad Pitt in Fury, appeared with Russell Crowe in Noah, and stars as the amoral Becket Rothchild in Rothchild.
Though he was arguably miscast as Harrison Ford's son, there's no denying that Shia LaBeouf definitely starred in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Look for LaBeouf's next big action role, either as John McEnroe in Borg vs McEnroe or as himself in whatever confrontationalart installation he comes up with next.
Logan Marshall-Green can be found in everything from Prometheus to Spider-Man: Homecoming. He also starsin the Blumhouse and Leigh Whannell horror flick Upgrade.
Known for his work on the HBO miniseries The Night Of or as a member of hip-hop group the Swet Shop Boys, the Pakistani actor broke out in Rogue One and takes center stage as the baddie of MCU's antihero saga Venom.
Yes, the rapper. Even if induction to this new Action Class required a certificate from MCU, Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. would still get in, thanks to his role as Dave, the most inauspiciously-named member of the Ant-Man crew.
Queen's native Nora Lum is the youngest member of the crew in Ocean's 8. With a scrappy sense of humor, Lum feels like the Spinelli-style hero who everyone wants to see victorious.
If Lena Waithe wasn't already having a stellar career, what with her Showtime series The Chi, her Masters of None Emmy, and her Vanity Fair cover shoot, she also managed to steal the spotlight in Ready Player One as Helen, better known as her cosplaying persona, the buff (and male) Aech.
