I n 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.
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.