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In recent years, we’ve seen a string of actors turn their hand to music. Just this summer, our critic Louis Chilton singled out Russell Crowe as one of the highlights of Glastonbury Festival, thanks to an enthusiastic set in which he covered Dire Straits and Johnny Cash as well as performing original songs. This was, Chilton argued, no vanity project: “I found it hard not to be swept along by the pure exuberant eccentricity of it.”
But what about when it’s the other way around? For a musician who thrives on the adrenaline of performing to thousands of screaming fans, or is used to getting their own way in the studio, what happens when you plonk them under the glare of set lights? Can they handle taking orders from a director, playing second fiddle to their co-stars... or will they crumble in such new and unfamiliar territory?
For fans, it’s an agonising experience to see a favourite singer stumble for once, to have to admit that, OK, maybe they’re not brilliant at everything. But sometimes that can also help to humanise our idols, or, even better, humble them.
Here are 12 instances where musicians failed to shine on the silver screen.
Adam Levine in Begin Again
You’d think that playing a bland, smarmy pop star would come naturally to Adam Levine, but the Maroon 5 frontman definitely struggled with his first major acting role, in John Carney’s schlocky musical comedy-drama, Begin Again.
The material wasn’t particularly good to begin with. Mark Ruffalo was the maverick label executive in want of a hit record; Keira Knightley the naive singer-songwriter trying to make her way in the big city. Many critics compared it unfavourably to Carney’s wonderful Irish romantic drama Once. Ruffalo and Knightley did well enough in their roles, but Levine had about as much charisma as a wet paper bag in his scenes as Dave Kohl, who cheats on his girlfriend (Knightley) at the very first taste of success as a pop singer.
Interestingly, Carney claimed that he’d been impressed by Levine on set but was notoriously rude about Knightley, referring to her dismissively as a “supermodel” despite her string of high-profile roles in Bend It Like Beckham, Pride and Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean, Atonement and Never Let Me Go. Levine’s previous credits, meanwhile, included Himself, Himself, and, um, Himself.
Carney later apologised, and Knightley went on to star in critical and commercial successes such as The Imitation Game, Colette and Misbehaviour. Levine had another go in 2017’s Fun Mom Dinner, another flop, but that’s about it.
Ed Sheeran in Game of Thrones
Ed Sheeran is one of the most successful artists of his generation, shattering records left right and centre while maintaining the humble, down-to-earth appeal that helped build his devoted fanbase. Yet even the most devoted fan would struggle to make a convincing argument for his disastrous cameo in Game of Thrones. Sheeran is as stiff as a White Walker, his few lines of dialogue over-pronounced. “That’s a pretty song,” Arya says as she arrives at a soldiers’ camp in the woods. The camera closes in on Sheeran. “It’s a new one,” he says. Geddit?
The guest appearance wasn’t aided by the fact that showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss announced they’d landed him after years of campaigning, because they wanted to surprise Arya Stark actor and Sheeran fan Maisie Williams. But the move caused discontent among series viewers who complained that the “Thinking Out Loud” star’s presence shattered the fantasy and jerked them right back to reality.
For Sheeran’s part, he later admitted he was “more careful” about agreeing to TV and film cameos following the backlash, while still questioning how many others would have turned down the opportunity.
Pop singer and reality star Jessica Simpson reportedly beat both Britney Spears and Jessica Biel to land the role of Daisy Duke in the horrendous (and unnecessary) remake of TV series The Dukes of Hazzard, in which her sole purpose seemed to be to strut around in as few clothes as possible.
It was as juvenile a production as you could imagine, but even so, Simpson seemed to struggle with her sparse dialogue – even if she said she enjoyed playing the role – and had about as much screen presence as the cars she was forever draping herself over. To make matters worse, the world also had to suffer Simpson’s horrendous cover of “These Boots Are Made for Walking”, which featured in the soundtrack.
Rihanna in Battleship
Based on the video game, Battleship was a big-budget action film about the crews of a small fleet of warships battling against an alien naval fleet. It was also Rihanna’s feature film debut and, while not her last, certainly left a black mark on an otherwise glittering career.
Reviews were almost overwhelmingly negative, with The Independent’s critic accusing both Rihanna and her co-star Liam Neeson of “sleepwalking through this salty hogwash”. The “SOS” singer ended up “winning” a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress.
Mariah Carey in Glitter
This 2001 romantic musical drama was a complete bust that serves only as a reminder of what happens when a pop star’s vanity gets the best of them.
Starring Carey as Billie Frank, an aspiring singer, the movie was loaded with rags-to-riches cliches and unintentionally hilarious dialogue, even if it occasionally found poignancy in its themes of love and loss. The “Fantasy” singer’s performance is distinctly wooden, given to eye-rolls, sideways glances and fluttering sighs.
Carey later said she regretted how the film turned out, telling USA Today in a 2002 interview that it originally had a lot more substance, but ended up being targeted towards 10-year-olds. “It lost a lot of grit,” she said. “It was gritless, in fact. I kind of got in over my head.” In a 2013 interview she called it a “kitsch moment” in her life and told Andy Cohen that there was a time when she hated it so much, she refused to allow people to say the film’s name in her presence.
While she’s never expressed much desire to pursue an acting career since, Carey did surprise many critics with her beautifully understated performance in the (definitely gritty) 2009 drama Precious, in which she played a weary but determined social worker.
Elvis Presley in Love Me Tender
Elvis Presley had long harboured a desire to follow in the footsteps of his idols, James Dean and Marlon Brando, since working as an usher in his local cinema. But while he went on to become one of the most celebrated singers in history, his career as a film star never took off in the way he wanted.
You can see why if you can bear to watch his acting debut in the 1956 musical Western, Love Me Tender, about a young man trying to care for his mother and the family farm while his older brothers fight in the American Civil War. Some of his delivery is so bad that the dialogue is unintelligible, and other scenes simply have him rocking-and-a-rolling in front of a crowd of giggling young women, no acting required.
When the film was released in cinemas, his famously avid fans apparently screamed so loudly it made it borderline impossible for other moviegoers to follow the story. Presley was embarrassed by this reaction and would later tell his friend Cliff Gleaves that he felt it prevented him from being viewed as a serious actor. Unfortunately, it was likely his lack of acting talent was the real reason.
Geri Halliwell in Sex and the City
While Geri Halliwell’s former bandmate, Victoria Beckham (aka Posh Spice) managed to send herself up in her Ugly Betty cameo, Ginger Spice didn’t have so much luck. Her 21-second spot in a 2003 episode of HBO’s hit romantic comedy-drama series Sex and the Citywas so bad, it has become ingrained as part of the show’s mythology.
In the season six episode (”Boy, Interrupted”), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) is struggling in a New York heatwave when she runs into Phoebe and some friends. Phoebe (Halliwell) proceeds to brag about how she’s just been to Soho House “for a dip”, waxing lyrical about drinking cocktails “while they mist you with Evian”. Yet it’s hard to concentrate on anything other than the stumbling over lines, the ludicrously over-egged accent and the bizarre over-the-top head-tilting in response to Samantha.
Halliwell later claimed in a BBC interview that she was “called in” for a chat about a prospective role in a James Bond movie but was unsuccessful: “I don’t think I was up their street,” she said. From her performance in SATC, it’s easy to see why. No wonder Samantha looked so hot and bothered.
Harry Styles in Dunkirk / Don’t Worry Darling / My Policeman
Christopher Nolan spent much of the press campaign for his wartime epic, Dunkirk, insisting that pop star Harry Styles was cast entirely on merit, beating hundreds of other hopefuls to the role in the process. Even so, it’s impossible not to see the former One Directioner in scenes and not question why one of the world’s biggest pop stars is playing soldiers on a beach in north France. The most praise that many critics could muster was that he wasn’t terrible, with The Independent’s Geoffrey Macnab calling him “creditable”.
Styles has since struggled as a leading man. He starred in two films in 2022, in the romantic drama My Policeman opposite Emma Corrin and David Dawson, and in the psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling with Florence Pugh, Olivia Wilde and Chris Pine. Again, the best critics could manage for Styles in My Policeman was that he was “not terrible”, while IndieWire complained that his role required “levels of complexity and conveying inner turmoil that Styles can’t provide”. The Guardian, meanwhile, noted that Styles seemed “as unsure of his ability as we are”.
Meanwhile, Don’t Worry Darling was a PR fiasco, with rumours of a huge fallout between Pugh and her co-star/director Wilde, and the rest of the media attention largely focused on the relationship between Wilde and Styles, who were revealed to be dating just a few months after his casting was announced.
It didn’t help that early clips of the film showed an evident disparity in talent between Pugh and Styles. Viewers noted his inconsistent accent and uneven delivery, opposite the Little Women actor's typically commanding, confident screen presence. Critics noticed it too, noting Styles was outgunned by his more experienced co-stars and calling him the “weak link” in the film. It’s unclear whether these reviews led to his remark in a 2022 Rolling Stone interview: “I don’t imagine I’d do a movie for a while.”
Britney Spears in Crossroads
The year was 2002, and Britney Spears was at the very height of her fame, riding the highs of two hit albums and singles including “... Baby One More Time”, “Born to Make You Happy”, and “Oops!... I Did It Again”.
It made sense, then, to see whether her star power would translate into a box-office draw forCrossroads, in a story conceived by Spears herself and with a script by Shonda Rhimes. The pop singer played Lucy Wagner, a shy but high-achieving student graduating from high school who sets out on a coming-of-age road trip with two former friends.
While the critical response seemed somewhat disproportionate and, in some cases, downright misogynist, Spears appears stiff and awkward in most of her scenes, which has little to do with her character. However, she is far from dreadful, and in certain scenes that charisma finally shines through. Yet she has barely acted in anything since, only appearing in cameos or in one-off TV episodes of Will & Grace and How I Met Your Mother.
Last year, though, a never-before-seen clip showed her impressive 2002 audition with Ryan Gosling for The Notebook (the role ultimately went to Rachel McAdams) suggested Spears had the acting chops to carry off a bigger role. With a potential “fictional” role in director Jon Chu’s forthcoming project, based on her best-selling memoir The Woman in Me, maybe we haven’t seen the last of Britney Spears the actor.
Michael Jackson in Men in Black II
The late King of Pop was initially invited to play an alien in the first blockbuster starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, but passed on the cameo. Director Barry Sonnenfeld told the BBC that he then insisted on being in the sequel, claiming that watching the first movie had made him cry.
“Jackson said he would love to be in Men in Black II wearing the black suit, all that mattered to him was that he wore that black suit,” he recalled. “It was very funny and it was entirely Michael’s idea.”
While the surreal appearance fits in somewhat with the zany tone of the films, the suitably spaced-out looking Jackson delivers his dialogue as though he’s reading directly from the script.
The Weeknd in The Idol
Some musicians have managed to hide behind their more talented co-stars while making their debut as actors. In the case of Canadian pop star The Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye, he attempted to behind controversy, much of it seemingly generated by the team behind his critically panned HBO series The Idol.
Starring Lily-Rose Depp as a pop star recovering from a nervous breakdown, the show was reported to have undergone considerable rewrites after Euphoria’s Sam Levinson took over directing duties, with a shift towards more sexual content and a “degrading” love story.
While this generated plenty of media buzz, the show was ultimately dismissed as “laughable” upon its release. Reviews of Tesfaye’s performance as creepy nightclub owner Tedros, meanwhile, branded him “terrible” and “turgid”.
