Singers turned Actors - The Best, The Worst

[floridaswamprat]

To honor the passing of Glen Campbell, we watched the only movie that I own with him in it - True Grit (1969). While Campbell was iconic as a singer, musician, and performer, he certainly did not convey those talents to the acting field. While his performance was cringe worthy at times, I do find the movie to be solid entertainment.

This got me thinking - who did successfully transition from a singer (or like entertainer) to a worthy actor? Who failed miserably?

Best: While there are obviously many who were successful, I will only offer one - Frank Sinatra. Perhaps he is "A-number-one, top of the list, King of the hill, A-number-one." But what are your thoughts?

Worst: Well, I mentioned Campbell, but I am not sure if he is the worst, but it was pretty bad.

NOTE: Do not include actors who turned singers (i.e. Travolta, etc.) That would be for a different discussion, I suppose.

[stvn1974]

Tom Waits is always great when he shows up in a film.

[zorbonaut]

Glen Hansard was excellent in Once.

Timberlake has a few nice performances.

[The_Donster]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

Tom Waits is always great when he shows up in a film.

He was awesome in Seven Psychopaths

Back on point, despite her singing, I thought Whitney Houston was horrible in The Bodyguard

[20th Century Boy]

The Beatles were pretty good at playing themselves.

[spanky87]

Bjork was transcendent and devastating in Dancer in the Dark.

[redxrebellion]

Not really the best, maybe the worst lol, but 2 favorites of mine are:

Kenny Rogers - Six Pack
Willie Nelson - Honeysuckle Rose

Would kill to have these both on blu

[qb2333]

Not sure I ever thought Sinatra was that great an actor. I always imagine the singer from Godfather was modeled after him.

I would say Marky Mark has to be up there around the best.

I can't deal with Jennifer Lopez

[Doctor Jack]

Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey are easily the worst.

[AnthonyGG]

I'm going old school here but Frank Sinatra delivered great performances in films like From Here to Eternity, The Manchurian Candidate and The Man with the Golden Arm (as a heroin junkie). Bing Crosby won an Oscar for an excellent performance as a priest in Going My Way and he also gave marvelous performances in the films Little Boy Lost and The Country Girl. Dean Martin gave a few solid dramatic performances as well, and he was always very natural on screen in Comedies. Fred Astaire was great in On The Beach. David Bowie was a very natural on-screen actor as well.

[SethRex]

Mandy Moore is not necessarily great, but she does good in her roles. I particularly liked her in 'A Walk to Remember.'

[P-Rock]

I thought Jennifer Lopez was an actress first and then became a singer?

Madonna. Not a good actress (and if you've heard her sing live not a very good singer either). Her best role probably is Evita. Worst? Swept Away.
LL Cool J. Not too bad. I like him in NCIS.
Ice Cube. Not a good actor, but adequate in brainless action flicks and comedies like Friday.
Elvis Presley. I don't think he's a very good actor. Most (if not all) of his movies are about stroking his huge, inflated ego.
Debbie Harry. Made a nice career with acting. Appeared in some great movies like Videodrome, Copland and Heavy.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by spanky87

Bjork was transcendent and devastating in Dancer in the Dark.

Originally Posted by SethRex

Mandy Moore is not necessarily great, but she does good in her roles. I particularly liked her in 'A Walk to Remember.'

Both of these. I love Dancer in the Dark and A Walk to Remember.

Jennifer Lopez has been pretty good in a few things. Timberlake as mentioned has given some top-notch performances, for example The Social Network -- god what an a**hole.

And honestly, Lohan, before she went off the rails and killed her career, was looking like she had some talent.

Scarlett Johansson has a music career, but she was an actress first.

[Michael24]

Kris Kristofferson. I never even knew he was a singer before he started acting. Always thought it was the reverse.

I couldn't stand Mark Wahlberg for a very long time, although I did find him a funny goofball in the Ted movies. But after Deepwater Horizon and Patriots Day, I had to admit he was growing on me as an actor. I thought he was great in both of them. And his brother, Donnie, I've enjoyed for a long time now. He's terrific on Blue Bloods.

And I would be remiss to not mention the frontman of my favorite band: Huey Lewis.

I mean, who else could have better delivered "I'm afraid you're just too darn loud?"



Seriously, though, I actually thought he was pretty good in Duets as Gwyneth Paltrow's father.

[Creed]

Originally Posted by SethRex

Mandy Moore is not necessarily great, but she does good in her roles. I particularly liked her in 'A Walk to Remember.'

She did great voice work in Tangled as well.

[shinobipopcorn]

Ice-T did a good job on SVU, Meat Loaf was a riot in his few roles, but the best has to be David Bowie. He played both the Goblin King and Tesla.

Worst, I don't know. Will.i.am wasn't too bad in Origins, but I don't know if his career as an actor survived it. Busta Rhymes was in the Halloween movie that ended up as a comedy more than a horror movie. Justin Timberlake is fine in d* in a box type stuff but that's about it...

[Impossible]

Madonna is the worst, hands down.

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by SethRex

Mandy Moore is not necessarily great, but she does good in her roles. I particularly liked her in 'A Walk to Remember.'

She was hilarious in Southland Tales.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by creed123

She did great voice work in Tangled as well.

Well, makes sense that she would be good at voice work, right?

Jeez, I STILL have to see Tangled.

[imsounoriginal]

Best -- Will Smith or Mark Wahlberg. If you take his producing career as well, then maybe Ice Cube.

I dunno who the worst would be.