Once upon a time, television and cinema were far more separated. For a good while, TV shows weren’t particularly cinematic or bolstered by high budgets, and that was okay, because such entertainment was confined to a small box in one’s living room. Further emphasizing the divide was the fact that actors who were prolific in the world of television tended to stay there, and movie stars stayed in the world of film.

Some crossover might’ve happened if a TV star “graduated” to movies, or if a movie star fell out of favor somewhat and was “reduced” to acting on television. But it’s become apparent in the last couple of decades that there’s no longer as much of a divide – both when it comes to budget and actors – between TV and cinema. The following stars and their shows demonstrate this well, with the following big-name actors all being well-established in the world of film before transitioning (sometimes temporarily, and sometimes for many seasons) to leading roles in successful TV shows.

10 Dwayne Johnson

'Ballers' (2015-2019)

Technically, Dwayne Johnson made a name for himself in wrestling before he became well-known for his movies, but both preceded his most significant television role to date: being the lead character on Ballers. The five-season-long show isn’t the only TV credit to Johnson’s name, but it’s easily his most prominent, and aired at a time when his status as a movie star had never been bigger.

Most of what Johnson touched during the 2010s turned to gold, as far as movies were concerned (even if the films weren’t particularly good). Nowadays, his sports-themed dramedy probably isn’t the first thing most people associate with Dwayne Johnson, but Ballers was nevertheless a fairly well-received show, and one that ran for almost 50 episodes on HBO, which certainly isn’t a bad effort at all.

Watch on Max

9 Reese Witherspoon

'Big Little Lies' (2017-2019)

On the topic of 2010s HBO shows backed by stars associated with movies, few contain quite as many big names as Big Little Lies, which aired its first season in 2017. Reese Witherspoon gets top billing, but by no means is she the only star worth mentioning, because that first season also starred the likes of Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, and Laura Dern.

Then, a second season came along in 2019 and added even more people, including three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep, making the entire thing even more star-studded. The cast aside, Big Little Lies is also solid as a show and found considerable success awards show-wise for both its seasons, telling a darkly funny (and sometimes more serious) story about several women who, broadly speaking, all have dark sides to their lives that they try and keep secret.

Watch on Max

8 Martin Sheen

'The West Wing' (1999-2006)

Martin Sheen is the patriarch of a noteworthy acting family, and found breakthrough success as a movie actor in the 1970s, largely thanks to starring in iconic films like Badlands and Apocalypse Now. Before this, he had been featured in small roles in some television shows, but became known for his movies, rather than his TV work… yet a couple of decades later, he returned to the small screen for perhaps his most iconic role to date.

Said role was playing President Josiah Bartlet across all seven seasons of The West Wing, an acclaimed drama series about a Democratic president and his staff. As a show with an ensemble cast, it’s not necessarily the case that Bartlet always feels like the main character, but the other key characters all revolve around him, and Sheen was one of the biggest names attached to the show, making him feel like a dominant/leading force for much of its run.

Watch on Max

7 Viola Davis

'How to Get Away with Murder' (2014-2020)

Viola Davis found success on screen before finding success on television, establishing herself as a prominent film actress throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s. She received Oscar nominations for Doubt (2008) and The Help (2011), and won an Oscar for 2016’s Fences, while also beginning a successful run on television for six seasons (and 90 episodes) of How to Get Away with Murder.

The legal/courtroom drama genre is well-represented in film, but is similarly well-suited to the world of serialized TV, with How to Get Away with Murder being a compelling high-concept take on this genre. Davis plays a defense attorney and professor who gets wrapped up in a plot concerning murder alongside several students of hers. It gets a little far-fetched and melodramatic as it goes along, sure, but Viola Davis proves more than capable of grounding and elevating the material at hand, with four nominations plus one win at the Emmy’s for her work on the show.

Watch on Netflix

6 Harrison Ford

'1923' (2022-)

Though the Western genre has come and gone popularity-wise over the decades, recent years have shown it rising quite noticeably… but more so on television than in the realm of film. 1923 is one example of the genre’s prominence on the “small” screen, being a spin-off of the ubiquitous Yellowstone and a follow-up to the similarly named 1883, with these shows generally attracting big-name actors.

1923 is especially noteworthy in this regard, as it sees Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren (both of whom are more well-known for their movie roles than TV roles) starring as patriarch and matriarch, respectively, of the Dutton family, leading them through a particularly tumultuous decade in U.S. history. Funnily enough, Ford has also taken on a rare lead role on television in 2023, too, starring alongside Jason Segel in the dramedy series Shrinking.

Watch on Paramount+

5 Amy Adams

'Sharp Objects' (2018)

Sure, Sharp Objects is a miniseries rather than a television series, and, as such, it kind of blurs the line between traditional TV and cinema. But, in any event, it did air on television across eight episodes, and told an ambitious story that really needed that extra room to breathe, following a reporter as she investigates a particularly harrowing case that involves the murder of two young girls.

Sharp Objects features Amy Adams in the lead role, and she, like Viola Davis, also found considerable film success in the late 2000s and early 2010s (coincidentally, both were in 2008’s Doubt). Before her breakout roles, Adams had featured in small roles on a handful of high-profile shows (including The Office and Buffy the Vampire Slayer), but Sharp Objects ultimately marked the first time she had the lead role on a TV show, not to mention a critically acclaimed one.

Watch on Max

4 Kevin Costner

'Yellowstone' (2018-2024)

Yellowstone seems up there as one of the most popular shows in recent memory, especially among U.S. audiences (the Western is a particularly American genre, after all). It’s a modern-day take on the Western, starring the prolific Kevin Costner in the lead role as John Dutton III, with the series revolving around a family and the various conflicts its members face while living on the titular Yellowstone Ranch.

Costner’s been in all sorts of movies throughout his career, and until 2018, had been best known for those various big screen roles. However, Yellowstone seemed to boost his popularity considerably, and was an unexpected second wind for the actor’s career. Costner and Yellowstone are just one of many examples of how someone best known for their movie work can do even more than successfully jump from one format to the other; they can find unexpected success from being in what was once considered the “inferior” kind of entertainment.

Watch on Peacock

3 Winona Ryder

'Stranger Things' (2016-)

Becoming well-known as a film actress from a young age, Winona Ryder had a fantastic run throughout the late 1980s and much of the 1990s, having lead roles in films like Heathers, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, and Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence. The 2000s proved to be a quieter decade for her, but she did appear in a handful of memorable movies, including A Scanner Darkly and Black Swan.

Then Stranger Things came along in 2016 and gave Ryder something of a career resurgence, playing the mother of Will Byers, whose disappearance in the first season of the show is really what kicks off the entire narrative. Like The West Wing, it’s hard to point to a single character in Stranger Things as being the unequivocal main character, but Winona Ryder’s has always been important, particularly in the first season, and she was the biggest name in the main cast when the show began.

Watch on Netflix

2 Kiefer Sutherland

'24' (2001-2010)

Few television shows can claim to be as compulsively watchable as 24, which, at its best, could well be described as genuinely addictive TV. Across multiple seasons, it was a show that continually tried to up itself when it came to shocking plot twists, cliffhangers, and major character deaths. Regarding the last of those, there were so many deaths/disappearances/cast member departures that only one character, Jack Bauer, is in every single episode.

And it’s Kiefer Sutherland who brings Bauer to life, always bringing his A-game to each and every episode of 24, no matter how silly or preposterous the storylines became. Jack Bauer remains Sutherland’s most iconic character to date, but he had a relatively strong film career before becoming well-known for 24, starring in noteworthy films like Stand By Me, The Lost Boys, and A Few Good Men.

Watch on Hulu

1 Woody Harrelson

'True Detective' Season 1 (2014)

In 2014, people were living through the middle of the famed McConaissance, which is when Matthew McConaughey seemed largely unstoppable as a movie star, winning an Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club and having the lead role in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. Not just content with succeeding in grounded dramas and blockbuster epics, though, McConaughey also had a high-profile TV role around this time, starring alongside Woody Harrelson in the first season of True Detective.

This was particularly significant when it comes to looking at movie stars transitioning to TV, because Harrelson was similarly high-profile as an actor (though, admittedly, his first big role was on TV, in the sitcom Cheers). True Detective has continued to be a powerhouse drama series over several seasons, with each being notable for having a different set of characters, and at least one very well-known actor starring in each season (like Colin Farrell in season 2, Mahershala Ali in season 3, and Jodie Foster in season 4).

Watch on Max

NEXT: The Best Animated TV Episodes of All Time, Ranked