5 Best Movies Starring WWE Superstars
By Bryan Heaton
4. Ed Wood (1994, George “The Animal” Steele)
One of Tim Burton’s best movies, Ed Wood is the film biography of the famed B-movie director of the 1950s. Johnny Depp gives a great performance as the troubled director, and the film covers the time period where he made his most notable movies – including Plan 9 From Outer Space.
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Among the cast of Plan 9 was Swedish professional wrestler Tor Johnson. In a case of art imitating life, the actor portraying Johnson was also a professional wrestler – George “The Animal” Steele.
It was a bit of a departure for Steele to portray Johnson – after all, he had lines that needed to be delivered clearly and somewhat eloquently. Remember, he spent the majority of his wrestling career as a raving lunatic who barely spoke coherently.
But the resemblance between Steele and Johnson was uncanny, and the Animal did a commendable job. One of his biggest character strengths in his Hall of Fame career was his charisma. Steele was always great at connecting with an audience. There really isn’t too much difference from connecting to a crowd in front of you and a theater audience on the other side of a camera.
And not for nothing, this is the only movie on the actual list to feature a wrestler playing a character who spends time in a wrestling ring. So, it’s got that going for it.