No, as her 2002 hit song may have suggested it, Avril Lavigne was not in the skate-boarding world before she shot into pop-rock fame. The Canadian music artist was actually an up-and-coming ice hockey player before she was topping charts. The singer was on the ice soon after she learned to walk, and by age 10, she was playing in the boys’ hockey league in her hometown in Ontario.
Lavigne could have embarked on a pretty successful hockey career, but by 17, she had a record deal and a hit album”Let Go,” which sold 16 million copies. C’est la vie.
John Cena
The 16-time world WWE champion and has matched up with some pretty terrifying wrestlers and beat them (we're talking to you, Batista, and The Rock.) His time on WWE was also pretty glamorous. With a lot of charisma and a killer entrance song, John Cena could certainly work up a crowd. Known for being really loved or really despised, Cena would get simultaneous chants of “Let’s go Cena!” and “Cena sucks!”
In 2006, the wrestling star boldly took the plunge and landed his first leading role in the film The Marine. That was just the start. Soon John Cena dispersed his comedy chops in films like Trainwreck alongside Amy Schumer and Blockers. His latest action-packed film is Fast and Furious 9.
Emma Watson
Forever endeared in our hearts as Hermione, it makes sense Emma Watson studied at Brown University, but did you know she made the field hockey team there as well? She’s got game! The young British actress who was born in France, having already landed the Harry Potter role at age nine, knew she would be an actress by age seven. Athletic, diligent with a fondness for literature, she excelled at hockey and rowing as a child in school.
When she auditioned for the first Harry Potter movie, she never imagined getting a lead role, let alone the worldwide fame and a ten-year commitment that would come with it, finding the 9-year-old through her teens and beginning her twenties. A charmed life, indeed.
Vinnie Jones
This guy is pretty hardcore. As a footballer for several teams in the English Football League, he won the 1988 Cup Final with Wimbledon, where he played six years and scored 14 goals as a feisty midfielder. His scrapping style of play was infamously captured when he was caught on camera grabbing the gonads of Newcastle United’s Paul Gascoigne.
After retiring from the sport, Jones dove into an acting career on Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels playing the gnarly mobster Big Chris. He played Bullet-Tooth Tony in Snatch, Sphinx in Gone in 60 Seconds, and a merciless henchman in Swordfish. Jones is barred from Virgin Airlines for instigating an inflight scuffle, so don’t mess with him.
Lou Ferrigno
He’s the Incredible Hulk, but where did he get that bulk? Pumping Iron, a documentary starring Lou Ferrigno, captured him at six-foot-five, 285 pounds, the biggest professional bodybuilder in the world. Ferrigno also held the Mr. Universe crown and was playing professional football for a Canadian team at the time. In that film, the producers of The Incredible Hulk TV show found their perfect lead.
Today, at 67, you can find him on Twitter. His tagline says, “I’m not just The Incredible Hulk or Mr. Universe. I’m also a husband, a father, and a pug lover.” We remember him best with ripping green muscles tearing through shirts.