Before They Had the Mercenary Build: Check Out the Expendables 2 Cast Before They Were Stars

It’s hard to imagine a time when Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t a household name. Long before he was Trent Mauser, mercenary leader, in The Expendables—hell, even before he was the “Governator” of California—he was known simply as the Terminator. But once upon a time, he was just a 10-year-old boy with dreams of moving to America who decided to use bodybuilding as the means to get him here. He captured titles like Mr. Olympia, which ultimately led to his first acting work, as Hercules in a 1970 production that allowed him to learn as he went. He got more notice in 1977 for a dramatic documentation of bodybuilding, Pumping Iron, and then finally broke out into the mainstream in 1982 with Conan the Barbarian. The 1980s were certainly his heyday, with the action genre hotter than ever, but he rode that streak well into the early 2000s, in films like Predator, Total Recall, Eraser, and Batman & Robin, in addition to the aforementioned Terminator franchise. A few detours came here and there for lighter fare, more family films (Twins, Kindergarten Cop, and Jingle All the Way), but it was only his political career that really kept him out of fake-harm’s way in action films for an extended period of time.

Everyman action hero Bruce Willis may have gotten his start in television (Miami Vice was his first role, but Moonlighting made a much bigger splash), but he has made a name for himself in action films. Though arguably his most recognizable role is John McClane in the Die Hard franchise, Willis capitalized on his ability to be the tough guy in everything from Pulp Fiction to 12 Monkeys to The Fifth Element and Armageddon. In the late '90s Willis began to mix up his work a bit more, with a quieter turn as a psychiatrist who (spoiler alert!) is also actually dead in The Sixth Sense, as well as a stint on Friends as a secretly sensitive boyfriend to Rachel. His role in the first Expendables as Mr. Church was only intended to be a cameo, but the scene he shared with legendary action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger generated so much buzz that he was brought back for more in the sequel.

Chuck Norris may just be the toughest guy in the Expendables cast, and if you’ve ever seen the Chuck Norris facts, you know better than to argue with us. Before becoming an actor, Norris was a real-life hero, serving in the Air Force, and even founded his own martial arts school. He was the first Westerner to earn the 8th Degree Black Belt Grand Master title. Norris is notoriously cast in no-nonsense roles, from his work opposite Bruce Lee in The Way of the Dragon to his long-running stint in the title role of Walker, Texas Ranger to even his would-look-ridiculous-on-anybody-else infomercials for fitness equipment.

As a sniper, Gunnar Jensen isn’t the action character Dolph Lundgren is typically known for portraying. The actor trained in martial arts and is known much more for roles that involve physical confrontations, as in Rocky IV opposite Expendables costar Stallone, as well as in Masters of the Universe, Red Scorpion, and The Punisher, to name a few. The Expendables was his return to mainstream film after almost half a decade shooting (and directing) straight-to-DVD action flicks overseas.

Unlike so many of his Expendables costars, Jason Statham has a background in diving, not martial arts. It’s a good thing he has focused so intently on becoming an accomplished and versatile actor these last years, though, because as Lee Christmas, he had to adopt the behavior of a knife expert. Statham rose to fame working on two Guy Ritchie films: Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. But he also caught eyes for his roles in The One, The Transporter, The Italian Job, Cellular, Crank, and the against-type indie London.

As Jean Vilain, the leader of an opposing team of mercenaries, Jean-Claude Van Damme has ample time in The Expendables 2 to put his contact training into effect against the other guys. It is certainly a long way from his first film role—when he was cast as an extra with no lines in a late-'80s miniseries about Franklin Roosevelt. His impressive stature earned him the role of a Secret Service agent, and his striking build has helped him land much more physical roles ever since. His breakout role was arguably Bloodsport, but Double Impact saw him taking on the challenge of playing twins, which was equally notable but for different reasons. Universal Soldier paired Van Damme with future Expendables 2 costar Dolph Lundgren, and then he went on to star in such projects as Timecop, Street Fighter, and JCVD.

Yin Yang, a martial artist, is the perfect example of The Expendables 2 just creating fictional counterparts for the actors they cast. Li is a real-life Wushu champion who first gained recognition for his skills at age 8, when he performed with the Beijing Wushu Team, earning fifteen gold medals (and one silver) at the All China Games, despite often competing against adults. Li worked in martial arts movies in the early '80s but didn’t first make a splash in American cinema until 1998, when he appeared in Lethal Weapon 4. Li and Expendables 2 costar Jason Statham worked together on two separate films over a couple of years—The One and War. He also has teamed with Jackie Chan a couple of memorable times. However, The Expendables marked Li’s return to acting after a yearlong hiatus. With the sequel now in theaters, it doesn’t seem like retirement is knocking permanently anytime soon.

Former Australian soap star Liam Hemsworth (he was on Neighbours, like every other actor who got their start Down Under!) has come a long way in a short amount of time in Hollywood. Though he was originally cast in the first Expendables,, his character was cut from the project, but Sylvester Stallone took a liking to him. Before he could come back to the franchise as sniper Bill "The Kid" Simmons, though, he took two other high-profile projects (for different reasons): The Last Song, starring Miley Cyrus, and the role of Gale Hawthorne in the Hunger Games trilogy.

Sylvester Stallone is best known for macho-men roles like Rocky and Rambo, but his very first paid acting gig was actually for a piece of pornography released as Italian Stallion after his rise to fame to capitalize on the star he had become. One early questionable character choice certainly didn’t hamper his ability to be taken seriously as an action hero, though, and even after his two famous franchises were down, he starred in high-octane films like Cliffhanger, Daylight, Demolition Man, Get Carter, and the comic book flick Judge Dredd (to name a few). Stallone also cowrote himself the Expendables role of Barney Ross, team leader, and even directed the first installment.