In August 2004, American action adventure film Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, starring Messner as an ex-military man Bill Johnson, premiered in theaters.
[4][3] He stated that "in Hollywood we've lost the real man", and that he's the only "alpha male" still working in the film industry, along with Bruce Willis.
[4][3] In those interviews Messner expressed harsh criticism for actors Orlando Bloom, Brad Pitt, Mickey Rourke, Russell Crowe and Vin Diesel, among others.
[8] Known as an action hero, he starred in numerous genre films including Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004), Tears of the Sun (2003), Running Scared (2006), Arena (2011), Kill 'em All (2012), The Good, the Bad, and the Dead (2015), Silencer (2018), and Beyond the Law (2019).
He portrayed the main protagonist, an ex-police officer Burke Wyatt, in the 2008 action film Ring of Death, created for Spike TV.