It’s the biggest night of the year in Hollywood as the 2017 Oscars take place on Sunday.
But rather than focus on the nominated actors, we’ve decided to go down a different route.
Several athletes have made the switch from the world of sports to acting and here, we look at 10 such stars.
BOB UECKER
Sport: Baseball
Career: 1962-67
Teams: Milwaukee Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves
Popular Filmography: Mr. Belvedere, Major League (trilogy)
VINNIE JONES
Sport: Football
Career: 1984-99
Teams: Wealdstone, IFK Holmsund, Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelsea, QPR, Wales
Popular Filmography: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels; Snatch; Gone in 60 Seconds; Mean Machine; EuroTrip; X-Men: The Last Stand; She’s The Man; The Condemned; Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
O.J. SIMPSON
Sport: American Football
Career: 1969-79
Teams: Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers
Popular Filmography: Roots; Capricorn One; Firepower; The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!; The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear; Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
DWAYNE JOHNSON
Sport: Wrestling
Career: 1996-present*
*has only made cameo appearances post 2013
Teams: WWE
Popular Filmography: The Scorpion King; Walking Tall; Be Cool; The Game Plan; Get Smart; Race to Witch Mountain; Tooth Fairy; The Other Guys; Fast Five; Fast & Furious 6; Furious 7; San Andreas; Baywatch
JIM BROWN
Sport: American Football
Career: 1957-65
Teams: Cleveland Browns
Popular Filmography: Dark of the Sun; 100 Rifles; Black Gunn; Take a Hard Ride; The Running Man; Any Given Sunday; Mars Attacks!
TERRY BRADSHAW
Sport: American Football
Career: 1970-83
Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers
Popular Filmography: Failure to Launch; Everybody Loves Raymond, Married… with Children, The Larry Sanders Show
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR
Sport: Basketball
Career: 1969-89
Teams: Milwaukee Bucks, LA Lakers
Popular Filmography: Game of Death; Zero Hour!; Full House, Living Single, Amen, Everybody Loves Raymond, Martin, Diff’rent Strokes; The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Scrubs, 21 Jump Street, Emergency!, Man from Atlantis, New Girl
ERIC CANTONA
Sport: Football
Career: 1983-97
Teams: Auxerre, Martigues, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes, Leeds, Manchester United, France
Popular Filmography: La vie est à nous !; Looking for Eric; Switch; The Salvation
MICHAEL JORDAN
Sport: Basketball, Baseball
Career: Basketball (1984-93, 1995-98, 2001, 2003) / Baseball (1993-94)
Teams: Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards, Birmingham Barons, Scottsdale Scorpions
Popular Filmography: Space Jam
BUBBA SMITH
Sport: American Footballer
Career: 1967-76
Teams: Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders, Houston Oilers
Popular Filmography: Police Academy 1,2,3,4,5 & 6; The Naked Truth; Black Moon Rising
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