10 Underrated Acting Performances By Athletes In Movies

Find out which athletes can bring their A game on the court and on the big screen.

By George Philpott /

There are a number of things that are underrated in this world: crunching leaves on an autumn day, narrowly avoiding your neighbour to avoid small talk, flapping your hands really fast to get gloves off, treating yourself to a sit down wee (for men), kiwis, the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack, treating yourself to a stand up wee (for ladies), and seeing your favourite athlete steal the show from the other actors in a feature film.

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In the sporting world, the opinion on an athlete can vary at the drop of a hattrick. They could be worshipped by fans after having an incredible game one day then ridiculed and criticised for having an off day the next.

This list, however, will turn a blind eye to the sporting endeavours of the featured athletes and focus purely on the incredible and often overlooked acting performances they delivered on the big screen. Now that is what baseball players refer to as a touchdown... Swish.

10. Lance Armstrong - Dodgeball

Featuring Lance Armstrong in this category is a pretty bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off.

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Putting aside Lance Armstrong's doping scandal (for now) the man has truly achieved some incredible things in his life. At age 25 he overcame testicular, lung, brain and abdomen cancer, he later went on to win seven Tour De Frances and wrote numerous best-selling books. Most notably, however, he made a brief cameo in the 2004 smash hit Dodgeball: A True Underdog story.

In his scene, Lance Armstrong finds a dejected Peter LeFleur, played by Vince Vaughn, in an airport bar after ditching his teammates out of fear of losing to Globo Gym. Lance is sympathetic and says he nearly gave up too after being diagnosed with cancer but he didn't and instead, he won the Tour de France five times in a row with nothing but determination and hard work.

This scene hits differently with 2020 hindsight knowing that he was found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs during that time. The fact that he pulled off those lines with a straight face is god-tier acting and for that reason he makes the list.

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