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Action films have become synonymous with Western culture — it doesn’t get more American than the first two
Die Hard movies being released around Independence Day while simultaneously being categorized as Christmas flicks. Over time though, many of the leading stars have began showing us a more global appeal when it comes to the lads and ladies at the forefront of Hollywood’s blockbuster action genre.
Enter the international action film star!
RELATED: Jackie Chan Reveals ‘Rush Hour 4’ Is In The Works, Twitter Begs For It To Be As Problematic As Possible
From pioneering icons like dearly missed Chinese action star Bruce Lee, to the ones paving the way today like Zimbabwean ‘shero’ Danai Gurira of
Wakanda Forever and
The Walking Dead fame, the oversaturated trend of WASP-type heroes with fair skin and athletic physique has started to look a lot more different by popular demand. International stars tend to bring a new sense of culture to the film, which can also sometimes be the driving force behind a movie’s plot. Either way you blow it up, diversity is always needed within the realms of Hollywood and particularly when considering the person at the center of it all who represents the strength, faith, hope and innate sense of badassery of a project.
With Jackie Chan recently announcing that
Rush Hour 4 is on the way, we felt it would be a perfect time to give props to the cinematic global rock stars who kept us on the edge of theater chairs while also introducing a new cultural perspective worth aspiring towards.
Keep scrolling to see 15 of our favorite action movie stars that impacted the U.S. with a force-filled punch….plus kicks, jabs and other signature fight moves:
