Top 5 Musicians Turned Actor
5. Bette Midler
Made the big switch in 1986 with her role in Ruthless People. She went on to star in Beaches, Hocus Pocus, First Wives Club , and the most recent incarnation of The Stepford Wives.
4. David Bowie
Best Known for his role as Jareth in Labyrinth, he also portrayed Pontius Pilate in Martin Scorsese’s Last Temptation of Christ and more recently he was Nikola Tesla in the 2006 thriller The Prestige.
3. Cher
1987 was Cher’s year to shine with an outstanding role in The Witches of Eastwick and her Oscar winning role in Moonstruck.
2. Mark Wahlberg (a.k.a. Marky Mark)
Starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the 1996 horror flick Fear. Made his “mark” in 2000 with The Perfect Storm. He was Oscar nominated for his supporting role in The Departed. And will be seen this summer in M. Night Shamalyan’s latest, The Happening.
1. Will Smith (a.k.a. The Fresh Prince)
Smith is the King Midas of Hollywood. Every project he touches is gold. Where do I begin the list? He owned the 90’s with his hit TV show, Bad Boys, Men in Black, Enemy of the State, oh yeah, and a little movie called Independence Day. And that grip has not been lost in the new millennium with two financially successful sequels, Ali, I, Robot, Hitch, The Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Legend, and the upcoming superhero comedy Hancock.
I know I left out the golden oldies: Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis. But i was trying to be a bit more contemporary. But their achievements cannot be overlooked. Who else did I miss? What do you think about musicians as actors, or is it really actors as musicians we need to worry about?
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How could you neglect the King of Rock & Roll?!
Elvis’ movies may seem hokey to us, but they were the bomb back in the day. I know you were going for a more contemporary flavor, but perhaps you could have a top 5 of all time or a “pioneers” category.
I’ll have to think further on this topic, but the Fresh Prince is a solid choice on the contemporary scene.
Maybe in another top 5 category. I personally felt worse about Frank Sinatra, I mean he was the original Danny Ocean. Also, I was going on quality as an actor over quality as a musician. Otherwise Will Smith wouldn’t have stood a chance and lets face it most of Elvis’ movies are awful. They are the Hannah Montana of yesteryear.
I was just thinking about Will Smith’s career move the other day. Funny how close our minds are linked.