Carl Weathers has been performing on television and in feature films since 1973. Just two years before that, he had a very short-lived career playing for the Oakland Raiders. He’s had numerous iconic performances, and for a time was the action star of the ’80s with his performances in Action Jackson and Predator.



Carl Weathers has proven that he can light the screen up in supporting or leading roles. As long as he’s on the screen – he’s giving it his all. This list showcases the best that he’s had to offer so far.

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5 Happy Gilmore (1996)

Happy Gilmore is often cited as one of the best Adam Sandler comedies. Its staying power was pretty obvious when it returned to Netflix. There’s even a supposed sequel being thrown around.

At this point, Carl Weathers had pretty much established himself as an action star. He hadn’t dipped his toes into the world of comedy, and thanks to this movie, it wouldn’t be the only time either. He would go on to work with Adam Sandler again, and make several appearances in comedy television series.

Weathers plays Chubbs Peterson, a former golfer that was once considered to be the best in the world. At least, until an alligator bit his hand off. Weathers plays this self-serious character perfectly, and is a total highlight of the movie. He even gets to showcase his singing range as well. It’s an earnest, hilarious, and important role in the career of Carl Weathers. It really helped set him apart from the ‘action star’ type casting that he faced in the ’80s.

Related: Best Non-Netflix Adam Sandler Movies, Ranked

4 Action Jackson (1988)

Action Jackson is easily Carl Weathers at his absolute hugest. He got completely yolked for this role, and it fits right into the type of macho lead action movies that highlighted the ’80s.

Action Jackson has Carl Weathers playing Sergeant Jericho “Action” Jackson, a disgraced detective that was demoted due to his actions on the job investigating a crime lord. Jericho isn’t willing to give up on the case- and continues to look into it, no matter how dark the rabbit hole is.

The role isn’t exactly nuanced. There’s no finely layered character motivations or arcs, but it doesn’t need that. It’s a fun, high stakes action movie where the hero is the hero and the villains are the villains. Unlike many of the other roles he’s played, Carl gets his chance to shine in a leading role. He plays it with a lot of charisma and excitement. Carl Weathers saying, “How do you like your ribs?” before blowing up a bad guy with a grenade launcher tells you everything you need to know.

3 Arrested Development (2003-2019)

Playing yourself is hard as an actor. It can lead down a path of needless self-indulgence that just makes it come across as a vanity project. Thankfully, when Carl Weathers joined the cast of Arrested Development as himself in 2003 – he would not be afraid to poke fun at himself. The show was already considered one of the most underrated shows of all time, and Weathers helped make that happen.

Carl Weathers, the character, is a self-obsessed con-man that keeps using acting classes as a way to pry money from the clueless Tobias Fünke (David Cross). He’s constantly coming up with schemes on how to save money, and helps himself to something free whenever there’s chaos going on. It’s a limited role, but he eats up every scene and has provided some of the most quotable moments in the entire series.

Despite only appearing in four episodes – Carl Weathers has marked his place in one of the greatest television shows of all time. He showed he wasn’t afraid to make fun of himself, and laughing at yourself is the best form of humor.

2 Predator (1987)

Featuring what may be the best handshake scene in any movie, Predator finds Carl Weathers playing the action star-type character that he does so well. Alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Weathers trip into sci-fi would be a very memorable one. It’s become a cult classic, and is recognized as one of the best of the decade.

Carl Weathers plays Colonel Al Dillon, a friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer, and both are tasked with rescuing a politician in the jungle. What they don’t realize – is that they’re not alone. Dillon, much like his character in Action Jackson, isn’t a terribly complex character. It’s Weathers’ natural charisma and on-screen presence that makes this role so memorable. As with the iconic handshake, Carl Weathers may have orchestrated the best death scene of any action movie to date. Hopefully the prequel coming soon will be able to capture that magic as well.

Predator was directed by Shane Black. Despite the fact that he was involved with three different movies at the same time, Black brought together one of the greatest sci-fi action movies of all time. Carl Weathers helped play a small part in that.

1 Rocky I – IV

The character of Apollo Creed may be Carl Weathers’ most famous role – and one that would continue to have an impact on the spin-off, Creed. Altogether, Weathers would play this role in four different movies, and was even considered for a revival of sorts in Creed 2. It’s a character that people love, and it’s hard to imagine anyone but Carl Weathers playing it.

Apollo originally served as the main villain in Rocky. Throughout the course of the next three movies – Apollo would grow and change into a good friend to Rocky. He would train him in Rocky 3, but would ultimately perish at the hands of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) in Rocky IV. By the time this happens, audiences have already grown to love his character. He went from the enemy to someone that they actively rooted for. If it wasn’t for the performance that Carl Weathers gave, the emotional impact of the Creed franchise wouldn’t have worked at all. It might not have even existed.

The Rocky films have always been stories of redemption, and fighting against the odds. The character arc that Apollo Creed goes through in those movies perfectly encapsulates everything that they represent.