A Few Good Men: 10 Actors Who Have Pulled Multiple Tours Of Duty On-Screen

Not everyone is cut out to be a real-life American military hero and, likewise, only a select few actors and actresses have possessed the Right Stuff necessary to pull off military service onscreen. The 10 actors on our list haven’t just suited up once for the USA —they’ve served their time as military heroes and veterans multiple times.  Since you can’t spend your entire three day Memorial Day weekend by the grill, why not remember the stars who have served our country on the big and small screens?

Tommy Lee Jones

Tommy Lee Jones always plays a soldier. Okay, not always. Sometimes he’s a U.S. Marshall or a lawyer. Jones just has the vibe of a man fighting for justice. Even before he hit it big, he played a Revolutionary war soldier in the television movie, April Morning (which you can find on Netflix), a disgruntled Vietnam Vet in The Park Is Mine, as well as military Everymen in In The Valley of Elah and Blue Sky. Recently, he played Captain America’s commanding officer in Captain America: The First Avenger.

Watch Now: Captain America: The First Avenger is available for digital rental on Amazon Prime, iTunes & Google Play.

Anthony Mackie

Anthony Mackie has a long and diverse body of film and stage work, but his two biggest breaks have been playing soldiers on the big screen. He rocketed to mainstream attention when he played Sergeant J.T. Sandborn in The Hurt Locker, and this year he made the leap to movie star status after playing former soldier-turned-superhero Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, in Captain American: The Winter Soldier.

Watch Now: The Hurt Locker is available for digital rental on iTunes & Google Play.

Josh Hartnett

Former ‘90s stud Josh Hartnett might be staging a comeback on Showtime’s Penny Dreadful, but he originally made a name for himself by playing soldiers in two very different movies about war. Hartnett played real-life soldier Matt Eversmann in Black Hawk Down and fictional fly boy Danny Walker in Michael Bay’s over-the-top World War II epic, Pearl Harbor.

Watch Now: Black Hawk Down is available for digital rental on Amazon, iTunes & Google Play.

Taylor Kitsch

Sure, Taylor Kitsch is most frequently associated with high school football player Tim Riggins inFriday Night Lights, but he’s been quietly carving out a place for himself in the cinematic armed forces. He played a naval officer in Battleship and real-life Navy SEAL Michael Murphy in Lone Survivor. Oh, and technically speaking, the eponymous John Carter was a Civil War veteran (even if the box office bomb takes place on Mars.)

Watch Now: Battleship is available for digital rental on Amazon and digital purchase on iTunesand Google Play.

Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum is Hollywood’s new American hero, so it makes sense that he’s played his fill of soldiers. Whether he’s playing a cartoon-y superwarrior in G.I. Joe, a modern soldier in Stop-Loss, or a romantic military hero in Dear John, Tatum always hits his marks. He most recently played a former soldier and DC cop in the 2013 summer flick, White House Down.

Watch Now: White House Down is available for digital purchase on iTunes & Google Play.

Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg might have spent the 1990s in his Calvin Klein underwear, but nowadays he likes to be completely suited up in uniform. He’s played  a soldier, astronaut, Navy SEAL and naval intelligence officer in films as varied as Three Kings, Planet of the Apes, Lone Survivorand 2 Guns.

Watch Now: Three Kings can be digitally rented on Amazon Prime, iTunes & Google Play.

Michelle Rodriguez

Ever since her electric debut in Girlfight, Michelle Rodriguez has managed to hang tough on the big screen. So, it’s no surprise that she’s held her own as a soldier in films like Battle: Los Angeles and a combat pilot in the sci-fi masterpiece Avatar.

Watch Now: Avatar is available for digital purchase on iTunes & Google Play.

Damian Lewis

Damian Lewis has always done extraordinary work in British television and film, but his two biggest claims to fame are as Lt. Richard Winters in HBO’s landmark miniseries, Band of Brothers, and more recently as Nicholas Brody on Homeland. The only irony? Lewis is British.

Watch Now: Band Of Brothers is streaming on HBOGo and is free on Amazon Prime now.

Martin Sheen

Lets just say that Martin Sheen has done his time onscreen for the United States military. He’s served in the military in Catch-22, Apocalypse Now, Gettysburg, Hot Shots: Part Deux, Project: ALF, Rage and he’s played the Commander-in-Chief twice on television in both Kennedy andThe West Wing.

Watch Now: Apocalypse Now is streaming on Amazon Prime and The West Wing is streaming on Netflix.

Christopher Walken

When you think “Christopher Walken,” the phrase “military hero” might not be the first phrase that comes to mind, but the eccentric actor has been playing members of the armed forces since he guest-starred as a Navy SP on Hawaii Five-O in 1969. Since then, he’s scooped up an Oscar for playing a mentally unhinged Vietnam war vet in The Deer Hunter and he’s played soldiers and vets in films like The Happiness Cage, Biloxi Blues and Pulp Fiction.

Watch Now: Pulp Fiction is streaming on Netflix.