Usually, it’s the opposite. Athletes, after retiring from their sport, try their hand at acting. And many succeed. Just to name a few athletes who’ve turned their careers into acting, we have the Rock (Dwayne Johnson), Terry Crews, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
To be fair, most of these actors and athletes were either wrestlers or bodybuilders, making it easy for them to transition to action movies. But what about the reverse? How many already well-known celebrities try their hand at sports?
Click through the slideshow for 7 celebrities who have tried professional sports.
Redfoo
Would you start a new sports career in your 40s? Life’s too short, so why not? Redfoo seems to be living this way. The popular LMFAO singer started his tennis career back in 2013, although it wasn’t until 2025 that he made his professional debut during the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour.
Cody Simpson
Around the same time that his singing career was growing, Cody Simpson was also a competitive swimmer. In 2009, he won gold medals at the Queensland Swimming Championships. While focusing on his singing career, he stopped competing until 2019.
Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Cuoco, best known for her role in “The Big Bang Theory,” has always been an athletic person. She was a tennis player as a child, but stopped to pursue acting. Now, as an adult, Cuoco is an excellent horseback rider. She mainly does it for fun though instead of competition, finding peace with her horses.
Jake Paul
Jake Paul, who is a big social media star, got into boxing at a later age. So far, out of 13 fights, he has won 12 of them, including one against the legendary Mike Tyson.
Tyler Winklevoss
Not a lot of people know Tyler Winklevoss, but they should. He was the co-founder of ConnectU, which was the basis of Facebook. At the same time he developed this social website, he competed in the Olympics. He competed in the 2008 Olympics men’s coxless pair event with his brother, ending in 6th place.
Tom Hardy
Some actors, like Tom Hardy, get into a sport because of training for a film. While training for a film, Tom Hardy learned Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Since learning, he’s competed in multiple competitions, including the UMAC Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open Championships in September 2022. Currently, he holds a purple belt.
Hillary Wolf
It’s such a flex to tell people that not only are you an actor, but you’ve competed in the Olympics – twice! Hillary Wolf, who starred in the Home Alone franchise, also won the world judo championships for juniors in 1994. A few short years later, she competed in judo at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2000 Summer Olympics.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Sam Hodde / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images.