Zac Efron, John Cena, Katy O’Brian: He-Men (and Women) are Making a Strong Comeback

Bulging biceps, chiseled pecs, and ripped abs are fueling a muscle-bound renaissance in Hollywood.

By James Verniere/Boston Movie News

Forget those babygirls, man-children, himbos, and metrosexuals, and feel the burn. He-men are back on our screens—if they ever really left. Just look around. Remember the sensation surrounding Zac Efron’s super-jacked physique in “The Iron Claw” last year? 

Efron played troubled professional wrestler Kevin Von Erich in the film, and the actor arguably took his bodybuilding for the role to eye-popping extremes. We will see more of that type of high-protein character-building in Jake Gyllenhaal’s interpretation of bouncer and martial artist Elwood Dalton in the Amazon Prime release, “Road House,” streaming now. Directed by Doug Liman (“Jason Bourne”), the film pits Dalton against a colorful adversary played by UFC champion Conor McGregor. This film is a loose remake of the 1989 cult classic featuring Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, and Sam Elliott.

Suddenly, we’re baking beefcake again in film and television. In Amazon Prime’s hit 2022 series “Reacher,” Alan Ritchson’s towering 6-foot, 3-inch frame has the heft and presence of a true comic book superhero. A one-time, failed contender for the role of Thor, Ritchson is about to costar in Guy Ritchie’s new action extravaganza “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” (April 19). As Reacher, Ritchson has emerged as a favorite strong and (often) silent, righter of wrongs. You may recall that the role of Reacher originated on screen in 2012 with a less physically imposing Tom Cruise.

In the hit CBS television drama “Fire Country,” former child actor (and show co-creator) Max Thieriot (“Nancy Drew”) captivates his fans as the troubled yet romantic convict/firefighter Bode Donovan. With a combination of grief-stricken soulfulness, bravery under, well, fire, and bulging pecs and biceps, Thieriot’s character telegraphs a powerful message: one can be sensitive and ripped at the same time. 

Meanwhile, former bodybuilder and professional wrestler John Cena, who recently made headlines for his near-nude appearance at the Academy Awards, joins forces with Efron in Amazon Prime’s comedy “Ricky Stanicky.” Cena, a native of West Newbury, is another former athlete who parlayed physical prowess and musculature into a career in such films as “The Suicide Squad” (2021), “Barbie” (2023), and “Argylle” (2024).

Audiences suddenly want characters who embody strength and action, a trend President Joe Biden may need to consider more seriously.  Perhaps the current kick-ass craze would help explain why we have two “Equalizers” in Queen Latifah’s Robyn McCall on TV and Denzel Washington’s Robert McCall on the big screen.

Even Taylor Swift dumped her “tortured poets” (neurotic, self-absorbed actor boyfriends) for the possibly less complicated, 6-foot, 5-inch Travis Kelce, the tight end for the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs. What message has Swift sent to her “Swifties?”

He-Men can be good guys or bad guys, as exemplified by the massively built professional wrestler and former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dave Bautista. The actor became famous as the comically softhearted Drax the Destroyer in James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” films. Bautista more recently plays the Darth Vader-esque “Beast” Rabban Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed science-fiction adaptations “Dune” and the current hit “Dune: Part Two.”

Female athletes have also successfully transitioned from playing field, dojo, or swimming pool to screen. Katy O’Brian (“The Mandalorian”) is making her mark as the dangerous, bodybuilding object of Kristen Stewart’s desire in the strange film noir tale of amour fou “Love Lies Bleeding.” To get into shape for the role, O’Brian had to endure both Crohn’s disease and heavy workouts during shooting.

Academy Award-winning Malaysian actor and martial artist Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”) was a star of Hong Kong action films, beating down adversaries, doing her own stunts, and learning Cantonese. She made two films with the great choreographer and director Yuen Woo-ping (“Tai Chi Master”) before becoming familiar in the U.S. in such hits as “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997) and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000). At the 2023 Golden Globes, on her path to winning an Oscar, tough gal Yeoh threatened to “beat up” a pianist who tried to “play her off.”

Former XCElite fighter and rising star Gina Carano, also of “The Mandalorian,” was cast into the Phantom Zone (aka fired) by Lucasfilm because of a meme she reposted that was deemed offensive. Carano was another kick-ass fighter before turning to acting in Steven Soderbergh’s “Haywire” (2011), receiving high praise for her debut performance alongside a first-rate cast. Her future is not clear.

The most famous, still-living example of an athlete transitioning into a major screen he-man is Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California. Known as the Austrian Oak during his bodybuilding days, Schwarzenegger rose to international fame through his exceptional physique, winning numerous Mr. World and Mr. Olympia titles in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His foray into acting began with smaller roles, including a cameo in Robert Altman’s “The Long Goodbye” (1973) and a more substantial part in Bob Rafelson’s “Stay Hungry” (1976), for which he received a Golden Globe for Best Male Newcomer, starring opposite Sally Field and Jeff Bridges. Not long after, it was his iconic performances in “Conan the Barbarian” (1982) and “The Terminator” (1984) that catapulted him to superstardom.

Even at age 76, Schwarzenegger continues to kick ass, as seen in his recent role in the Netflix series “FUBAR” (2023), reaffirming his status as the world’s favorite and most famous he-man. Who else could have played Conan the Barbarian or the Terminator? No one, which is why the uniquely endowed and gifted Arnold will always … be back.