Movies & Shows Where a Muscular Woman is in the Lead Role

I'd like to compile a list of movies and shows that feature a muscular woman (not just FBB's) in a lead role. A very recent example would be "Love Lies Bleeding" with Katy O'Brian.

Another that comes to mind is the original "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" with Noomi Rapace. Her muscles aren't really on display for most of the movie, but in one particular scene she shocked me by how ripped she looked. Her muscles weren't big (especially by this site's standards) but they were very pronounced.

Any others come to mind?

I'll update this post as everyone chimes in and begin creating an actual list.

(1979) Golden Girl - Susan Anton

(1984) Getting Physical - Alexandra Paul

(1985) Red Sonja - Brigitte Nielsen

(1986) Aliens - Jenette Goldstein

(1991) Terminator 2 - Linda Hamilton

(1995) Nemesis 2 (3, 4 and 5) - Sue Price

(1995) Strange Days - Angela Bassett

(1995) Xena: Warrior Princess - Lucy Lawless

(1996) Raven Hawk - Rachel McLish

(1997) G.I. Jane - Demi Moore

(2000) The Opponent - Erika Eleniak

(2001) When Billie Beat Bobby - Holly Hunter

(2002) Enough - Jennifer Lopez

(2004) Blade: Trinity - Jessica Biel

(2004) Million Dollar Baby - Hillary Swank

(2005) Elektra - Jennifer Garner

(2009) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Noomi Rapace

(2011) Bad Teacher - Cameron Diaz

(2012) Worship - Dallas Malloy

(2013) The Machine - Caity Lotz

(2014) Edge of Tomorrow - Emily Blunt

(2014) In the Blood - Gina Carano

(2016) Lady Bloodfight - Mayling Ng

(2018) Pearl - Julia Föry

(2018) Tomb Raider - Alicia Vikander

(2018) Traffik - Paula Patton

(2022) Interceptor - Elsa Pataky

(2023) Body Odyssey - Jacqueline Fuchs

(2024) Love Lies Bleeding - Katy O'Brian

Xena warrior princess? Wonderwomen

Enough (with JLo), GI Jane, Terminator 2, Ravenhawk, Nemesis saga, Million dollar baby

Sue Price in the Nemesis movies

Angela Bassett in "What's Love Got To Do With It" and "Strange Days". She kicks butt in Strange Days.

Julia Fory in "Pearl"

Jessica Biel in "Blade Trinity"

Dallas Malloy in "Worship"

Much appreciated luvembuff but please edit your previous comment for now if you have any more to add.

Much appreciated luvembuff but please edit your previous comment for now if you have any more to add.

What did you want me to edit?

What did you want me to edit?

Every comment you make has an Edit button next to the Quote button. If you forget to add something in the future, rather than making 4 new comments in a row, you can edit 1 comment and add to it.

Every comment you make has an Edit button next to the Quote button. If you forget to add something in the future, rather than making 4 new comments in a row, you can edit 1 comment and add to it.

Oh..ok

Another that comes to mind is the original "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" with Rooney Mara. Her muscles aren't really on display for most of the movie, but in one particular scene she shocked me by how ripped she looked. Her muscles weren't big (especially by this site's standards) but they were very pronounced.

The Daniel Craig version (with Rooney Mara) was a shot for shot remake of the 2009 Swedish original which featured Noomi Rapace.

https://www.girlswithmuscle.com/images/?name=...

The Legend of Korra.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

Tomb Raider (2018).

Arcane.

Striptease 1996 maybe? Not exactly fbb size but demi Moore did look quite strong

Enough (with JLo), GI Jane, Terminator 2, Ravenhawk, Nemesis saga, Million dollar baby

Not familiar with the "Nemesis saga," is this a movie franchise?

Sue Price in the Nemesis movies

I guess this is the same thing.

The Legend of Korra.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

I'm leaving out animated and CGI muscle.

EDIT: Updated the list with another one I remembered, "Lady Bloodfight."

I'm also only choosing 1 movie per actress. Demi Moore was mentioned for both G.I. Jane and Striptease so I just chose G.I. Jane. Angela Bassett was also mentioned for 2 movies so I chose Strange Days.

Xena warrior princess?

From what I remember, Lucy Lawless wasn't muscular at all. She wasn't out of shape, but most of the appeal of that role was fantasy-based. Her character was super strong etc, etc. But the actress didn't strike me as anything out of the ordinary. You can argue this if you'd like and I might be convinced with examples where she is actually showing some muscle. I just don't remember her having any.

Elsa Pataky in Interceptor 2022

Olga Kurkulina in Kick-Ass 2 2013. Not technically a lead, but she's got some of the best scenes and lines in the movie.

(2000) “The Opponent” - Erika Eleniak

There's a movie with Jacqueline Fuchs that is going around the festival circuit, but has no release date, at least in the United States. It is called "Body Odyssey". You can find information and a trailer at https://www.intramovies.com/production/body-o....

Angela Bassett in "What's love got to do with it", was incredible. Although why she got so muscular to play Tina Turner I've no idea. But for a movie that had nothing to do with fitness or anything similar, this must be the stand out.

Another one is Emily Blunt in "Edge of tomorrow".

And Cynthia Rothrock who made a load of films in the 80's & 90's. I think she was world champion at karate or Taekwondo or something.

Brigitte Nielsen in "Red Sonja".

Alexandra Paul in "Getting Physical". Where she played a girl who becomes a bodybuilder.

Not familiar with the "Nemesis saga," is this a movie franchise?

I guess this is the same thing.

I'm leaving out animated and CGI muscle.

EDIT: Updated the list with another one I remembered, "Lady Bloodfight."

I'm also only choosing 1 movie per actress. Demi Moore was mentioned for both G.I. Jane and Striptease so I just chose G.I. Jane. Angela Bassett was also mentioned for 2 movies so I chose Strange Days.

From what I remember, Lucy Lawless wasn't muscular at all. She wasn't out of shape, but most of the appeal of that role was fantasy-based. Her character was super strong etc, etc. But the actress didn't strike me as anything out of the ordinary. You can argue this if you'd like and I might be convinced with examples where she is actually showing some muscle. I just don't remember her having any.

The Nemesis movies were quite bad, but worth seeing for Sue Price. I think she was nude a lot in Nemesis 4 if I remember correctly.

Noomi Rapace in Prometheus (2012)

Rachel McLish in Aces: Iron Eagle III (1991)

Olga Kurkulina in Kick-Ass 2 2013. Not technically a lead, but she's got some of the best scenes and lines in the movie.

I'd rather just stick with lead roles for this thread. There are many, many movies where a GWM might appear in one scene for just a few seconds, and there's not much of a point to investing time in watching an entire movie just for that. This thread is intended more for movies where the main focus is on the woman, and of course the more muscle she has the better.

I guess it's fine if you guys want to list movies where they have smaller roles, but I won't be adding those to my list in the original post.

Angela Bassett in "What's love got to do with it", was incredible. Although why she got so muscular to play Tina Turner I've no idea. But for a movie that had nothing to do with fitness or anything similar, this must be the stand out.

For Angela that was her role of a lifetime, and probably her best known role to date. I'm leaving "Strange Days" on my list instead because it's more obscure and users can still look up her name and see what else she's been in.

For this list, I feel like lesser known movies will bring more value to it. Users who browse through this thread will likely be looking for movies they haven't seen yet.

I'm leaving out animated and CGI muscle.

I'm not an expert in muscles, but I think that Tatiana Maslany looked pretty fit in the series, even when she wasn't transformed. I would say this is a decent size of muscles for a natural woman.

How about Amanda Righetti from The Mentalist (not exactly the 'main' character, but whatever)