Movies Vs Music (Movie & TV Stars In The Music Industry Feature)
Friday, 04 November 2011
Written by Heather McDaid
Stars of the screen and musicians are two staples in the realm of celebrity. Take the likes of Lady Gaga to Angelina Jolie as extreme examples; these two industries can throw you to completely dizzying heights of fame, but the industries of screen and song are not exclusive (David Hasselhoff asking us to jump in his car being a stark reminder of that...).
While not everyone is as – shall we say – quirky as David Hasselhoff’s driving invitation or Mr. T’s warning on how to treat our mothers, there are some successes between the two genres. On the contrary, there are some complete and utter flops from over the years. We’ll look at some of the finer examples and, if we feel like dragging up some bad memories, some of the less successful just because they’re too good to let some people forget about.
A key and relevant success story is none other than 30 Seconds to Mars frontman, Jared Leto (pictured). Acclaimed for putting his efforts into mastering a part, his first leading movie role - in 1997's 'Prefontaine' - saw him studying the runner of the same name's career and meeting a number of his family or friends. Following on from his initial movie break, he has seen himself in some fantastic titles; 'Fight Club', 'Girl, Interrupted', 'American Psycho', 'Requiem for a Dream' and so on. Furthermore committing to his roles, 2007's 'Chapter 27' saw Jared gain weight drastically to portray Mark David Chapman in a movie depicting John Lennon's demise.
With a substantial film career in the works, why risk it in a move to music? Well, when that result is 30 Seconds To Mars – it’s a risk well paid off. Although he still works within both fields, music takes precedence. His band have recently made headlines for breaking the world record for most tours on a single album, around 300 on 2009’s release ‘This Is War’.
With countless awards, endless achievements and extensive touring to unimaginably large crowds, 30 Seconds To Mars have become the masters in sparking that fire within a fanbase. The Echelon are one of the more prominent fanbases within music. Just as the two industries mentioned are not mutually exclusive, neither is the art form. 30 Seconds to Mars embrace the ideas of feature films by producing lengthy videos, all with stories to tell. In the case of Jared Leto, he has not only found the fine balance between his love of acting and music, but he’s garnered strong success in both fields.
As to where he should stay, we’d say music. However, with 30 Seconds To Mars said to be going on hiatus at some point soon, perhaps it’s a little premature to ask Jared to drop his acting career entirely.
The next is a more personal choice, since this isn’t based as much on commercial success as Jared Leto. Releasing his musical debut earlier this year, Hugh Laurie has made quite the impression with his record ‘Let Them Talk’. Featuring various collaborations, Hugh has produced a wonderful blues album showcasing the musical talents he’s been nursing his whole life.
Speaking so eloquently about his move from screen to song, he once said, “Worst of all, I’ve broken a cardinal rule of art, music, and career paths: actors are supposed to act, and musicians are supposed to music. That’s how it works. You don’t buy fish from a dentist, or ask a plumber for financial advice, so why listen to an actor’s music? [...] That’s my only credential [...] I love this music, as authentically as I know how, and I want you to love it too. And if you get a thousandth of the pleasure from it that I’ve had, we’re all ahead of the game.”
With his talents flourishing since his childhood and an evident passion for the music throughout his life, there’s nothing more wonderful than an album from someone who truly loves what they do. In one interview, he said that he knows he’s not one of the greats, but if even one youngster discovers a new found love of blues through him then he’ll be extremely happy; even more so if they look into the genre enough to discover the greats for themselves.
To his career outside of music, he could have a full feature to himself to cover it. Growing up with his works, it’s hard to shake him as one of the dog-nappers from ‘101 Dalmations’, Stuart Little’s dad or that irritable stranger on the plane who brilliantly told Rachel from Friends “it seems to be perfectly clear that you were on a break.” Currently, you’ll see him everywhere as Dr. House, lead character in one of the shows everyone and their dog is seemingly – and rightfully – obsessed with nowadays.
We couldn’t dare ask Hugh to leave his career in television (not that he would listen...) because, quite frankly, he’s brilliant. But, we could never ask him to leave this record as his only release. With that evident love of what he produced in this record, we need more!
In a U-turn, next comes a musician turned movie star who has a vast array of people calling for his return to music, Justin Timberlake. Starting out in the Mickey Mouse Club alongside the likes of Britney and Christina, Justin moved on to N*Sync where he stole many a girl’s heart in that typical boyband fashion of the 90s. His solo career is where he really took off, sealing superstardom for himself in the process.
His move to acting is met with both support and negativity. He’s featured in the likes of ‘The Social Network’ and voices Boo Boo in the latest Yogi Bear movie; he even has a new and anticipated movie due out soon. The negativity spirals from the fact that many just want him back in music; more along the lines of ‘Can you imagine what he’d release if he wasn’t acting?’
You see, his acting career is good and people enjoy it but there’s such a longing from so many for him to at least go back for one more record. We’d have to push him towards the musical side just to see this album come to light. At a mere 30 years old, it’s fair to assume he’s got plenty of time to embrace both sides so we’ll be patient for now...
A fellow Mickey Mouse Club member starred in a film so bad it requires no ounce of thought as to which side of the screen/song divide she should stick to. We are of course talking about Britney Spears and the ‘Crossroads’ incident. While her acting wasn’t as widely criticised, the film itself was declared poor by most reviews. With the Femme Fatale Tour currently one of the most popular tours scouring the planet at present, we think it’s safe to say this movie is the last of her concerns. With a solid musical career surrounding her, hopefully Britney has learned her lesson on movies.
With Britney’s dubious dabbling in the movie industry the only female effort mentioned so far, we turn to Juliette Lewis – actress turned rock star. Known for her roles in 'Cape Fear' - following which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe - and 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape', to name but two, Juliette launched her musical career with Juliette and the Licks. Much like Hugh Laurie, she offers a link between her two careers, once saying, "I was always using music in my acting to prepare for roles. To me, cinema and music go hand in hand. Now I’m just giving attention to the other side of my art."
Although she claims she was giving attention to the other side of her art, her last musical release was in 2009. While music has taken a relative back seat, her film and television career has continued strongly with a number of features over the years. Juliette was good within music to a degree, but her career didn’t remotely compare to that on-screen.
While some thrive on laughter in their respective careers (Step up: Jack Black of Tenacious D), many just have laughter thrust upon them for the wrong reasons. Rude Tube has featured Mr T’s ‘Treat Your Mother Right’ track more times than I’d care to mention; the sentiments may have been good, but it’s still completely bemusing...
It seems that there are some key examples going around as to why it would be naive to pigeonhole actors and musicians to just one career path as some are blinding successes. Even Twilight’s Robert Pattinson and Harry Potter’s Tom Felton have dabbled in music throughout their entire lives, so why not let them break the moulds of sparkling vampires and sinister wizards?
While not everyone can make a good transition into music (Remember Jordan trying to represent the UK in Eurovision, anyone?) there are a few stars out there. Love them or hate them, the likes of Jared Leto and Justin Timberlake have made illustrious careers on both sides of the field and make up for other celebrities who have completely and utterly bombed over the years.
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