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This list of actresses either played, or still play, some of the most epic roles in Hollywood to ensure our national security is intact. Sure, they are just movies, but we are grateful for their…err….service. Above is Zoe Saldana who could be named for any of her roles, because she almost always plays a bonafide bad-ass. Colombiana, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Losers, Star Trek all come to mind.
Cruise through the list and tell us if we left anyone off. Enjoy!
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Meg Ryan
Sure, Meg Ryan does not come to mind as an action star for most. And to be blunt, she isn’t one. Sorry, we still love you Meg.
Her roles in Top Gun as Goose’s wife, Sleepless in Seattle (don’t pretend you haven’t seen it), You’ve Got Mail and When Harry Met Sally all come to mind before any action-like films.
But there is at least one film that fits the mold. This blond bombshell takes on the role of a U.S. Army Captain, Karen Walden, in the film Courage Under Fire and gets her action on. While it is not necessarily equal to the others on this list (I would have rather have Jessica Biel on my team) it did earn her a spot on our list of fictional heroes.
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Kate Beckinsdale
Sure, Kate’s role as a bad-ass vampire killer in the Underworld series doesn’t exactly qualify as playing a ‘first responder’ – unless you know something that we don’t – but her character Lieutenant Evelyn Johnson, a Navy nurse serving at Pearl Harbor in the film Pearl Harbor most certainly qualifies her as a champion in our books.
People often forget those who support our warfighters (to include families) and do not label them as heroes and for that, you are wrong. Our staff has more than 100 deployments abroad and we greatly respect those who serve around us in support roles. I also wouldn’t mind Kate giving me a shot.
She also is pretty bad ass in the remake of Total Recall, though we much prefer the original film.
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Demi Moore
No! She does not age, we agree.
Demi has played a number of roles that get her on our list (trust us…you will see her again!), but the first is for her role as Lt. Commander JoAnne Galloway in a A Few Good Men, which is an absolutely amazing film. If you haven’t seen it….go see it. If you did and did not like….get off our site.
While she is not technically an ‘action star’ in the film, her service to the country as a Navy JAG Corps officer and investigator is still remarkable and heroic. Her character, along with Tom Cruise (sorry ladies – he isn’t on here) defend two Marines who are facing court martial. Jack Nicholson is absolutely amazing in this film as well. Seriously, just go watch it.
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Jessica Biel
I love you! Sorry… random synapse fire.
What we meant to say was Jessica’s character in Stealth, Lt. Kara Wade, was a supremely awesome pilot battling an artificial intelligence program. Yes, that was it.
Sure, the movie sucked, but we love Jessica, so she makes the list. While the film’s view of artificial intelligence is interesting, it isn’t delivered well, but we are no movie critics.
She could easily make the list for her roles in Total Recall, Blade: Trinity, The A-Team or Home of the Brave as well, but does it really matter? She is a bad ass and if you are good enough for Justin Timberlake, you are good enough for us (once again, sorry ladies – he isn’t on here either).
Eva Green
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This French actress and model made the list because always plays awesome roles, well…and she is gorgeous.
As we said, Eva has played some outstanding roles in her career and the first to get her on our list is her character Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale. She did her country proud…well, until she didn’t at the end. But still, we like her and so did James Bond.
The film was, in our opinion (again – we are no movie critics), the best of the new era of Bond films. The interpretation of MI-6 (Bond’s employer) and CIA in the film are quite different than real life officers experience, but it is entertaining still and Eva Green is in it…so who cares.
Rihanna
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Funny, I wore that same outfit the other day!
Okay, we hear ya…Rihanna is not known for her acting, and probably for good reason, but that doesn’t mean that she isn’t willing to suit up as a US service member on the big screen.
Rihanna takes on the character of U.S. Navy sailor Petty Officer Cora “Weps” Raikes in Battleship and does her country proud. Of course the film sucked, but what can you expect from a board game turned action film? It does have some great talent in it, such as Liam Neeson, but we have to sink it in terms of ratings. May it lie at the bottom of the ocean and never be syndicated on TBS or TNT.
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Charlize Theron
True, not all pictures are created equal. Some are sultry, some are just eh, but this one is…
Okay, sorry. Back on track. Charlize Theron has performed in a number of roles that earn her a spot on the list. Her first that perhaps earns her that spot….Theron plays Detective Emily Sanders in The Valley of Elah and helps Tommy Lee Jones search for his son, an Iraq Veteran who has gone missing. A noble task indeed, welcome to the list.
Teamed up with such a great actor in Tommy Lee Jones, Theron starts to get her chops at this point in her career and the rest is of course history.
However, her more recent displays of bad-assery come in the form of her roles in Atomic Blonde and Mad Max: Fury Road and they are epic. Keep doing what you do Charlize.
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Kristen Stewart
I am going to be honest, Kristen, you seem like you may be more intense off-screen than on. Is everything okay with you?
All that said, I am intrigued with your personality and overall aura, which may be your goal, so well done.
Kristen Stewart, who is far better known for her role in that vampire series the kids talk about, plays Cole, an Army soldier assigned to Guantanamo Bay in Camp X-Ray. We believe that Gitmo is a very necessary evil and that this film was politicized garbage, but we appreciate her willingness to serve as a fictional service-member nonetheless.
She does have her moments in the Twilight series and plays a cool side role in Jumper as well.
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Jessica Stroup
Let me guess. You have not heard of Jessica…yet. That’s okay. But you should pay attention because this gorgeous actress is an up and comer.
She makes our list for her character Amber, who is a National Guard trainee fighting for her life in the awful horror/action movie The Hills Have Eyes 2. Yes, they made a sequel.
She also joined the cast of The Following starring Kevin Bacon as NYPD Max Hardy, which earns her a spot. Finally, despite it being contrary to what most parents would want for their kids, we respect her willingness to turn down a scholarship to the University of Georgia to pursue her passion of acting and modeling. Fist bump for chasing your dreams.
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Hillary Duff
Attention! Hillary Duff may be known for her childhood character Lizzie McGuire, but she was in the military too…well, in the television movie Cadet Kelly at least. That counts for us people! Sure, it was cheesy and awful, after all the premise is “a fashion conscious teen is horrified when she is forced to move to military school” – what could go wrong?
In fairness, she was also in War, Inc. starring John Cusack, so she has dabbled in the war and action business…although super lightly. Interesting side point, John’s sister Joan was also in the movie.
Now…lets treat this picture like a children’s search book. Can you find the triangle?
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Gabrielle Union
Wow! I mean… thank you for your service and dedication as DEA Special Agent Syd Burnett in Bad Boys II. Union played a bonafide bad ass in the film, and we hope she makes a return in Bad Boys III, yes…that’s happening.
Her other films do not really qualify her for the list, although we will say this…
Her role in the teen cheerleading film Bring It On is perhaps more scary than any warzone we have served in…Wow, teenage girls can be mean.
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Angelina Jolie
Yes, we know. Angelina is polarizing, but we are not here to takes sides in the Jennifer Anniston, Angelina Jolie, and Brad Pitt love triangle that occurred so long ago and covered the tabloid headlines. Besides, Brangelina isn’t even a thing anymore either.
So, judging on her acting merits, Jolie has done so many roles that warrant her a spot on this list that it was tough to narrow it down. Hell, we could almost make an entire article just for her (team: take note), but let’s start with one tied to our intelligence community, Salt.
In the film Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, a seasoned intelligence officer that knows her way around weapons…and slimy Russian mobsters and spies. We won’t get into the details of the film, because it has some twists and is definitely worth a watch. Should it have won an award? No. Is it good on a day home from work, on an airplane or on a stormy night? Yup.
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Goldie Hawn
People may talk more about her daughter Kate Hudson these days than Goldie (get your wife some of Kate’s new exercise apparel by the way), but we went overboard (see what we did there?) for Goldie Hawn in her hay day.
Her role as Judy Benjamin in Private Benjamin lands her on our list. We know, she isn’t a bad ass in the film, but as we have addressed earlier, we respect those who serve in any capacity in real life, and as such keep that logic for films too.
Plus she has been with Kurt Russell forever and he is action gold. Excuse me while I go watch Tombstone.
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Stacey Dash
Stacy made our list of celebrities that support President Trump as well, so I guess you could say she is dashing her way to the top of our favorite people list. She made this list for her role as Private Miranda Myers in Renaissance Man.
The film is not one I can say that is about action, nor was it ever intended to be. After all, Danny De Vito is in the film to teach some failed recruits how to pass basic training – not take down terrorists. And no, we do not have anything against short people or Danny. The film just involves Stacey’s fictional service and we respect her…so there you go.
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Paula Patton
I always forget how much I love her!
Don’t mess with this stunning actress, or at least her character Jane in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. The film itself is entertaining, as are most Mission Impossible films, and her bad-assery easily secured her a spot on our list.
Her characters in 2 Guns and Deja Vu are support roles, but also earn our respect. Sorry Kevin James and Will Smith, we can’t include you guys and her character in Hitch, although hilarious, on this list.
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Halle Berry
Want to sunbathe? Or at least watch Halle Berry’s character Ginger, a DEA agent in Swordfish sunbathe? You should, although we won’t give the minute/second mark because that is creepy.
Her agreement to sign up and defend this nation, albeit fictionally, lands her firmly on our list – and the sunbathing scene. Seriously, have you seen that part of the movie?
DEA is often forgotten in the mainstream media as many do not want to tackle the difficult conversations involved with the War on Drugs, and more importantly how violent those south of the border are, but they have some of the best agents in our justice department.
The film itself is supremely entertaining and a classic action film from its era – the era before John Travolta got weird.
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Kate Winslet
This is definitely the best her…skin…has looked. But more importantly, her role as Hanna Schmitz in The Reader caught our eye and earned her a spot.
Technically a WWII era romance film, vice a WWII film itself, Winslet’s character likes having classic novels read to her and disappears after having a clandestine affair…
Hang with us…
Then she reappears on trial for Nazi war crimes. See, there is some connection, albeit soft. Bottom line, we like Kate and the film was well received by most critics.
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Rachel Weisz
Rachel has played a number of outstanding roles, but her character, Tania Chernova, in Enemy at the Gates was outstanding and nailed her spot firmly on our list. The film, though overshadowed by other great war films in the years surrounding its release, was a fabulous and highly entertaining film.
Ed Harris (who doesn’t love him?) and Jude Law play awesome characters and are dueling snipers during the height of Russian and German battles for control of Stalingrad.
Weisz also plays a great role in The Mummy series, which is set to be re-boot with Tom Cruise at the helm.
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Jessica Chastain
The real life analyst that Chastain portrays may not be well-liked in the intelligence community. Okay, she is loathed, but that doesn’t mean her work wasn’t greatly important and led to the death of al-Qaeda leader and 9/11 mastermind Usama Bin laden.
We greatly appreciate the performance Jessica puts forth in Zero Dark Thirty and how it follows events sequentially in great detail, mirroring closely the series of events leading up to the operation to take down UBL.
Sadly, there were parts of the film, one in particular that was a little close to home as several friends were lost. May those officers who died in the Khost blast in December 2009 (which never should have happened) never be forgotten.
Okay, sorry had to get serious there for a second.
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Jennifer Garner
This 13 Going on 30 star plays Federal Agent Janet Mayes in the 2007 hit, The Kingdom. The story surrounds the aftermath and investigation of a bombing at a federal facility in the Middle East, and escalates from there. Don’t miss the last five minutes. Seriously, this film was well done and very entertaining.
Still, Garner is more known for her role of Sydney Bristow on the hit TV show Alias, which aired for five seasons. Garner’s character is an absolutely adorable and seemingly vulnerable college grad that is actually a bonafide bad-ass. Her appearance as “the cute girl”, is misleading as her real job has her slaying bad guys and protecting the nation left and right.
The series is loaded with other acting talent, to include Ron Rifkin and the now super well known Bradley Cooper.
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Sophia Bush
The streets of Chicago are violent…so violent, in fact, that since 2001 there have been more more murders there than U.S. service member deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Take that in…
On that somber note, isn’t it great that we have Sophia’s fictional character, Detective Erin Lindsay, cruising the streets and laying down some justice? Her role on Chicago P.D. is outstanding!
Sure, not everyone watches the same TV drama’s, but creator Dick Wolf tends to get quite the following with all of this shows (Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med, Chicago Justice and Law and Order: SVU to name a few). Sophia’s help makes the show what it is and will very likely end up on the big screen sooner than later.
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Scarlett Johansson
Guilty! We are stretching here. Scarlett is not in a war movie, she doesn’t play a cop, but she is in the Marvel Avengers series as Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow and has been in several other bad-to-the-bone roles. We see our military members and first responders as super heroes, and thought you would want to see a picture of her…so it all makes sense right?
If that doesn’t jive with you, let’s simply look to more recent films such as Lucy and Ghost in the Shell where she is…umm…amazing. If you would mess with her and not get your ass kicked, let us know and we will remove the mention of her name on this list. Can we keep the picture though?
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Rachel Nichols
We know, we know. Not everyone knows Rachel Nichols, but you will.
Rachel Nichols is not only gorgeous (trust us – the above picture is a safe one), but her role as Scarlett (yes the action figure you had growing up) in G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra verifies that she can kick some ass too. Rachel battles Baroness played by Sienna Miller in the film, which is a site to be seen.
The movie is not as good as anyone wanted it to be, but nostalgia (and Rachel) help keep you engaged.
Thanks for your willingness to battle the evil Cobra Commander. I have hated that guy since I was a kid. He is such a jerk.
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Rae Dawn Chong
“I have an emergency message for General Franklin Kirby.” Rae Dawn Chong’s hotness and lovability factors in the 1980’s action hit Commando are off the chart….we love you, Rae, and miss you (no, she is not dead, the statement just felt right).
Unfortunately, she has not taken on any major roles of note, as least as they pertain to this list, since teaming up with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
As a side note, she could use a lesson on firing the M202 Flash shoulder fired rocket launcher, although she definitely improved on her second try. Please, never fire one at me though if you are trying to save me.
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Denise Richards
Yup, her ex-husband Charlie Sheen is crazy and she likes little dogs, but that doesn’t take away Denise Richards’ hotness, nor her willingness to save the planet in Starship Troopers. Thank you, Denise.
While action has not typically been her thing, though she may have dodged things being thrown at her by Charlie, she did also have to survive craziness in the James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough. She plays Dr. Christmas Jones in the film along side Pierce Brosnan.
Okay, side tangent. Who was the the best Bond? Comment, then click next.
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Jolene Blalock
Sometimes the least known actresses that take on big roles come off even more gorgeous because they are new and fresh on the eyes.
Jolene, in my opinion falls in that category.
I am not sure how many people really watched Starship Troopers 3, I know I didn’t like it, but Jolene Blalock was the talk of the town when it came out. Thanks for fighting our galactic battles Jolene.
Now, shall we sing together?
Jolene…Jolene…Jolene…Joleeeeeeeene.
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Rose McGowan
Another stretch perhaps, but in Planet Terror Rose has a machine-gun leg. The movie sucks, but her leg is awesome, so…
She does however do the voice over for a character in the epic video game war series Call of Duty. She takes part in the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare installment.
Bottom line, we pushed it too far here. We are sorry, but she is a cute and talented actress and will make it up to you on the next page.
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Michelle Rodriguez
See, told you we would get back on track.
First off let us just say that Michelle looks super tough. She may in fact be a total cream puff, we don’t know, but I am scared of her.
Her persona as a forever bad ass carries over into all her films. She stormed onto the scene in the Fast and Furious series starring Vin Diesel that somehow just seems to get more and more steam.
However, despite being a champ in those films, Rodriguez makes the list for her role as Trudy Chacon in James Cameron’s Avatar. After all, her service is a little more noble in the film than as an underground street racer and crook.
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Demi Moore (again)
We told you she would be back!
This time for her role in G.I. Jane, where Moore played a female sailor going through B.U.D.S. to become the first female Navy SEAL. Yes, she shaved her head for the film.
While it seemed crazy then for a female to go through B.U.D.S, with former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and President Obama making the military a social experiment, anything is possible.
Moore could also be included for her role in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle
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Megan Fox
Before you say it– we know. Transformers aren’t real…at least we don’t think. But Megan did get entangled in a pretty epic robot battle with Earth’s survival on the line, and she wore those… well, just sayin…
Her stop in the first two Transformers movies wasn’t her only stint in action films though. Fox took on the role of reporter April O’Neil in the live adaptation Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films.
She also, though uncredited and pretty much unseen, was an extra in Bad Boys II, which we have already said we love.
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Angelina Jolie (again)
She’s back! This time, as Mrs. Smith in the spy movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in which Jolie plays an intelligence officer who ends up battling her husband, Brad Pitt. Interesting. Who knew they would actually get married after the film, and then fight in real life? This storywriter deserves an award.
As stated before, we could almost make an entire list for Angelina, but why not spice it up with other people, right? Angelina Jolie is also known for taking on video game heroine and adventurer Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider series. A bad-ass girl with a short shorts, a tank top and two guns on her hips? What is not to like.
