10 Celebs Who Have Pursued Careers As Professional Athletes

Find out how these stars got involved with sports…

Musician Redfoo rose to fame as a member of LMFAO, but now he’s pivoting his career. In 2025, he made his professional tennis debut as part of the International Tennis Federation’s M15 Sharm ElSheikh tournament in Egypt. While he lost the match against 23-year-old Leyton Rivera, he has plans to continue his career in tennis.

“As a kid, it’s always been a dream of mine to play professional tennis,” Redfoo shared with NY Tennis Magazine in 2013.

In fact, Redfoo has been playing since he was a kid and once dated former world No. 1 women’s tennis player Victoria Azarenka. During that time, he entered the 2013 U.S. Open National Playoffs in the hopes of qualifying for the U.S. Open. Since then, he’s been an avid supporter of the sport and even invented his own game called Time Ball.

Geena Davis had an established career as an actress in the late ’90s when she found herself completely obsessed with archery after watching the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She decided to dedicate herself to the sport and was soon practicing five hours a day, six days a week. She eventually ended up winning national and international tournaments — and took part in the qualifiers for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She fell just short of making the team.

“I take everything too far,” she joked in an interview with ET. “I’m at the Olympic trials in my forties for something I just took up! It was the most out-of-body experience I’ve ever had. It was fabulous. I will never forget about it.”

Bella Hadid grew up riding horses and even had dreams of making it to the Olympics. Unfortunately, she had to give up her potential career as an equestrian due to her battle with Lyme disease, which her mother, Yolanda Hadid, says caused “severe symptoms” that left her with the “inability to ride.” Bella went on to become an internationally recognized model — but never forgot her love of riding.

Fortunately, Bella’s health has improved in recent years and she now is back in the saddle. In 2023, Bella took part in an equestrian competition and as of late, has been involved in cutting horses, a modern equestrian competition that involves herding cattle. She was a finalist in the 2024 Super Stakes Classic and was named the LAE Rookie of the Year by the National Cutting Horse Association.

Idris Elba has always been athletic, but around 2017, he took things to the next level. He had been kickboxing “to keep fit” since his 20s but decided that he actually wanted to get in the ring and do things professionally. He documented his entire journey in Idris Elba: Fighter, in which he chronicled the training that went into a pro career. In his kickboxing debut, he TKO’d his competitor in the first round.

“I was training much in the way a professional would; it was a big challenge both mentally and physically. Before this Idris Elba: Fighter series, kickboxing was more of a keep-fit type thing, and it was tricky to really go head first into it because of my schedule with acting — the producers probably wouldn’t be so keen on it,” he told Train magazine. “Delving head first into it was a true journey and I absolutely loved it.”

Cody Simpson grew up with a passion for swimming, but as he got older, his focus shifted to music. In 2019, he decided to get back in the pool and pursue his Olympic swimming dreams. He trained with Olympians like Brett Hawke and was mentored by Michael Phelps. After just a few years of training, he made it to the Australian Swimming Trials for the Tokyo Olympics.

Although he didn’t make it that year, he continued his training in Australia and medaled at the Australian Swimming Championships. He later even took the podium at international competitions. Then in 2024, he made it to the 2024 Australian Swimming Trials in 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly. While he made some of his personal best times, it was just short of making the Olympic team.

“I did what I could do, and that’s all you can do. I’ve come a lot further in the last four years than perhaps I could have bargained for,” Cody shared. “Starting from zero and trying to see how far I could get in half or a third of the time that everybody else has been training, just to do right by that kid in me that gave it up to go and pursue something else, which I had an incredible journey.”

Kaley Cuoco has always been involved in sports. She grew up playing tennis, but when she decided to quit the sport, her parents told her that acting shouldn’t be her only extracurricular activity. She picked up horseback riding and even though she’s risen to fame as an actress, she’s maintained her love for horses. In fact, over the past decade, she’s competed in numerous showjumping events as an equestrian.

“The bond between a person and a horse is like nothing else — it’s hard for people to understand unless they have one. Riding is the Zen part of my week. There are no cell phones — you can’t think outside of that moment. Acting isn’t easy for me by any means, but riding is such a challenge,” she told Los Angeles Magazine in 2015.

Jake Paul rose to fame as a Vine star and YouTuber before making his acting debut on Disney Channel. While his acting career didn’t last long, he made waves as a controversial figure on social media — before pivoting to enter the world of boxing. Although he wasn’t taken seriously at first and admits he was doing it as a cash grab, Jake says boxing has saved his life and taken him out of a very dark place.

“I need boxing. Boxing saved me. I was in a super dark place in my life. I lacked discipline, lacked routine, lacked community, lacked passion, lacked progress. Boxing gave me all of those things, and I loved punching people and getting punched!” Jake shared. “I love the pace of it, the strategy, everything behind it. It’s an art. Then there’s the build-up, the content, the press conferences, the outfits. All of it made me fall in love with boxing, to a point where I need boxing on a daily basis just to function. I love the sport, that’s really what it is.”

Mary-Kate Olsen picked up horseback riding when she was just a young actress starring on Full House. As she rose to fame, she continued her equestrian pursuits for fun and eventually began entering into competitions. Since 2013, Mary-Kate has been competing in the Hampton Classic Horse Show and has also taken part in the Palm Beach Masters on several occasions.

Tom Hardy got involved in Brazilian jiu-jitsu over a decade ago when he was training for his movie Warrior, in which he portrayed an MMA fighter. He explained that as an actor, he often trained to get big or small for a film but it was lonely and boring. He was convinced to try out jiu-jitsu and has since become a big fan, even if he was intimidated at first. He’s now taken part in numerous competitions, including the Milton Keynes Brazilian Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship, organized by the Ultimate Martial Arts Championship.

“I started to enjoy the community and it gave me a level of confidence, honest confidence, because I always [got] beaten, but that’s okay,” Tom said. “But I kept turning up. It is really important. You’re never going to be the best, it’s impossible. But you can be better than you were, by coming, just coming and there’s nothing to be scared of. I realized that everybody there who I thought was scary weren’t really different [than me].”

Master P began releasing music in 1991, but after finding success as a rapper, he decided to turn his attention to basketball. In 1998, a friend convinced Keith Smart, the head coach of Continental Basketball Association team Fort Wayne Fury, to let Master P try out. While Keith later said he didn’t think the rapper was NBA material, he thought having him on the team could be “exciting for the Fort Wayne community.”

Master P hit the road with the team and in 1999, he began scoping out NBA teams that would allow him to try out for a spot on the roster. He went on to attend training camps for the Charlotte Hornets and the Toronto Raptors but was dropped both times. He was eventually signed by the San Diego Stingrays, where he played for less than a season.

In 2004, he briefly played for American Basketball Association teams the Las Vegas Rattlers and Long Beach Jam. He also tried out for the Denver Nuggets at their training camp for their summer league and then did the same for the Sacramento Kings. While he eventually stepped back from the sport, Master P says he’s proud of his accomplishments.

“Ain’t no publicity stunt. Do you know how hard it is to work into that [situation]? I view it as I made history. What other hip-hop [star] or entertainer got that far?” he later shared.