# Movies featuring singers as actors and no big deal was made. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781 "2014-06-14T16:26:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/81 "2014-06-16T23:11:46Z")
> [@Abracadebra](#): > > Chris Isaak in “Silence Of The Lambs” > [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > He was also in _The Blind Side_. > One of my favorites is Joe Strummer in _Mystery Train_. Ok, which characters where they? ---
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/82 "2014-06-17T11:53:42Z")
Andre 3000 in **Be Cool**. He was also in a few episodes of **The Shield**. Big Daddy Kane, Tone Loc, and Isaac Hayes were all in **Posse**. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/83 "2014-06-17T16:46:58Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > He (Tom McGraw) was also in _The Blind Side_. > One of my favorites is Joe Strummer in _Mystery Train_. > [@MadTheSwine](#): > > Ok, which characters where they? Which characters were they? McGraw plays Sandra Bullock’s husband. They are the adoptive parents of Michael Oher. In _Mystery Train_ Joe Strummer plays Johnny aka “Elvis.” He is the “brother-in-law” of Steve Buscemi’s character. They appear in the segment “Lost in Space.” ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/84 "2014-06-17T17:15:18Z")
I got a good one: in 1994, when Mark Wahlberg was still just “Marky Mark.” His first feature film role was in _Renaissance Man_, as one of the less-than-brilliant army recruits Danny Devito is teaching. There’s a Hamlet-themed hip-hop/rap routine in the movie, but Wahlberg’s rhythmically-challenged character just drums a desk (poorly) in the background. If you watch the credits, you’ll see that Wahlberg actually _wrote_ the Hamlet Rap. He’s also featured on three songs on the soundtrack, but he doesn’t perform in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/85 "2014-06-17T17:27:32Z")
How about Clint Eastwood? He’s a singer; just listen to him sing in Paint Your Wagon! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/86 "2014-06-17T17:50:15Z")
> [@MissSwitac](#): > > Iggy Pop also has a cameo in Sid and Nancy with his then wife, Suchi. Bowie’s been in many with larger roles, but he had a funny cameo in Zoolander. It was also one of Courtney Love’s first film roles. Especially creepy given what happened to Cobain 8 years later. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/87 "2014-06-17T18:35:08Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > Ok, which characters where they? Chris Isaak was in a blink-and-you-miss-it role as a SWAT team leader in “Silence of the Lambs.” He has some lines but his character isn’t even named. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/88 "2014-06-17T18:44:57Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > I got a good one: in 1994, when Mark Wahlberg was still just “Marky Mark.” His first feature film role was in _Renaissance Man_, as one of the less-than-brilliant army recruits Danny Devito is teaching. There’s a Hamlet-themed hip-hop/rap routine in the movie, but Wahlberg’s rhythmically-challenged character just drums a desk (poorly) in the background. > > If you watch the credits, you’ll see that Wahlberg actually _wrote_ the Hamlet Rap. He’s also featured on three songs on the soundtrack, but he doesn’t perform in the movie. I always wondered how many takes it took him to sing “you got the touch” so poorly in _Boogie Nights_ knowing that he knows how to carry a tune. ---
**Author:** ![Srsly\_Dad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@Srsly\_Dad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Srsly_Dad)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/89 "2014-06-17T18:47:03Z")
Dave Matthews as Otis in Beacuse of Winn-Dixie. His character did sing some. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/90 "2014-06-17T20:03:09Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Mos Def became a very proficient actor in many films, in almost all of which his role has nothing to do with music. Agreed. I thought he was understatedly excellent in [Something the Lord Made](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386792/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_18), about a little-known but important mid-20th-century medical researcher. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/91 "2014-06-17T21:11:21Z")
If I recall correctly, didn’t Tom Petty make an appearance in The Postman which had nothing to do with him as a musician? ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/92 "2014-06-17T21:36:50Z")
> [@Hugh\_Mongoose](#): > > Tom Waits- Domino, Book of Eli, Mystery Men, probably other movies I’m not recalling at the moment. A few more I thought of: _Down By Law, Short Cuts, The Fisher King, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus_. I know he’s been in more stuff that I can’t think of. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/93 "2014-06-17T22:05:20Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > If I recall correctly, didn’t Tom Petty make an appearance in The Postman which had nothing to do with him as a musician? Actually they do make reference to the fact that he “Used to be someone famous” although his character is not listed in IMDB as Tom petty, just as “Mayor of Bridge City” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/94 "2014-06-17T23:49:03Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Agreed. I thought he was understatedly excellent in [Something the Lord Made](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386792/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_18), about a little-known but important mid-20th-century medical researcher. Thank you for the name of that excellent film. I saw the first 3/4 on motel cable TV, never saw the title, but what an outstanding movie with an exceptional cast, including Mos Def–have no idea who he is, had no idea who he was except **that wonderful young, black actor from that Alan Rickman movie.** He needs to quit rappin’ and pound out a serious film career. 🆒 Ludicris, too. Outstanding in one of those SVU episodes. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/95 "2014-06-18T00:25:24Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > I always wondered how many takes it took him to sing “you got the touch” so poorly in _Boogie Nights_ knowing that he knows how to carry a tune. Nitpick: Mark Wahlberg was a rapper, not a singer. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/96 "2014-06-18T00:37:15Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Thank you for the name of that excellent film. I saw the first 3/4 on motel cable TV, never saw the title, but what an outstanding movie with an exceptional cast, including Mos Def–have no idea who he is, had no idea who he was except **that wonderful young, black actor from that Alan Rickman movie.** He needs to quit rappin’ and pound out a serious film career. 🆒 > > Ludicris, too. Outstanding in one of those SVU episodes. Mos Def/Yasiin Bey also had a recurring role in Season 6 of _Dexter_. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/97 "2014-06-18T01:05:37Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > and Iggy Pop in lots of things (The Crow, _Tank Girl_, as a DJ in the aforementioned _Hardware_) I don’t get what the OP means by “no big deal was made”, but if he is looking for singers in supporting roles where they don’t sing then _Cry Baby_ is notable for being a _musical_ in which Iggy Pop appears but IIRC does not sing at all. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/98 "2014-06-18T01:32:29Z")
It was obvious stunt casting, but in _The Adventures of Ford Fairlane_, Wayne Newton didn’t sing. Neither did Robert Goulet in _Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear._ (They couldn’t get Wayne Newton.) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/99 "2014-06-18T01:32:31Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Meatloaf played a supporting character in Fight Club and he didn’t sing a single word. And don’t forget that Meat Loaf showed up for dinner in _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_. (He also sang. Hot patootie, bless my soul!) Also in _Fight Club_ was a young, pre-Oscar Jared Leto (although the first album from 30 Seconds To Mars was released 3 years later). Brad Pitt looks right at Leto when he says the line: “We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars.” > [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > One of my favorites is Joe Strummer in _Mystery Train_. If cameos count, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, and Paul Simonon all appeared as “Street Scum” in _The King of Comedy_ (along with Ellen Foley, who sang with Meat Loaf on _Paradise By The Dashboard Light_). ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781/100 "2014-06-18T13:38:30Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Nitpick: Mark Wahlberg was a rapper, not a singer. 😛 Nitpick accepted, but I still feel like a rapper would be able to croak out something better than [this](http://youtu.be/eYAAbbuEpnw), which if I recall he did fine in the another movie where he played a heavy metal singer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-featuring-singers-as-actors-and-no-big-deal-was-made/690781.md?page=6)