大象传媒

Singers have been trying their hand at film acting since the very earliest days of talking pictures, when entertainer Al Jolson played the title role in 1927's The Jazz Singer with huge box office success. Crooners Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra both found new life in movies in the 40s and 50s, while Elvis Presley and The Beatles made hit films in the 60s. There have also been some notable cinematic misfires, like Mick Jagger in Ned Kelly (1970), David Bowie in Just A Gigolo (1978) and Madonna in Swept Away (2002). But here are six popstar turns that made the grade...

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Billed as 'that Go-Go guy and that Bye-Bye gal in the fun capital of the world', this high-energy, widescreen musical teamed Elvis with Ann-Margret – the Swedish-born performer who had hit the big time in Bye-Bye Birdie in 1963. Their on-screen chemistry was palpable – helped perhaps by the fact that they were having a well-publicised affair during filming. Viva Las Vegas features some great dance numbers, like the brilliant Come On Everybody. Elvis made over 30 films in all – many of dubious quality because his manager ‘Colonel’ Tom Parker insisted he make them for purely financial reasons. He very nearly played opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1976 version of A Star Is Born, but wrangles over top billing prevented what might have been a truly fascinating piece of casting.

Nicolas Roeg’s enigmatic and disturbing psychological thriller was the third feature film appearance for Art Garfunkel – one half of the legendary duo Simon and Garfunkel. Having previously played roles in Catch 22 and Carnal Knowledge, Garfunkel here portrays Alex Linden, a psychology professor who gets mixed up with Milena, a young American woman living in Cold War Vienna. Like many of Roeg’s films the story is told in a mosaic style, where the timeline is fragmented and past and present intermingle. Garfunkel’s performance is detached and mannered but strangely appropriate to the narrative, a perfect counterpoint to Theresa Russell’s overwrought Milena. Bad Timing achieved considerable controversy at the time – British distributor The Rank Organisation removed their logo from the picture on release – one executive famously branding it: “A sick film made by sick people for sick people”.

Mike Nichols’ film stars Meryl Streep in the titular role as a whistleblower who died in suspicious circumstances while investigating alleged wrongdoings at a plutonium plant. The film aso features a strong performance by Cher as Silkwood’s gay friend Dolly Pelliker. The so-called 'Goddess of Pop' had previously been known mostly for her singing, but the refreshing authenticity of her performance in Silkwood won her the Best Supporting Actress prize in the Academy Awards that year. It launched her on a successful film career that would include The Witches Of Eastwick and Moonstruck, for which she won a Best Actress Oscar in 1987. Cher and Streep will reunite on screen in the upcoming sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, to be released in 2018.

A project originally written in the 1970s for Diana Ross to star opposite Steve McQueen (and later Ryan O'Neal), The Bodyguard was eventually made with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner in the lead roles. This overblown drama, about an Oscar-nominated superstar singer who is receiving death threats and her relationship with the ex-secret serviceman hired to protect her, drew mixed reviews at the time, but proved immensely popular with the public – it was the second highest grossing film of 1992 taking over $400 million worldwide. The resulting album remains the best-selling soundtrack of all time – shipping over 45 million copies. The film has proved an enduring hit, spawning a highly-successful stage musical. Its most famous song is Houston's cover of I Will Always Love You - written and originally sung by Dolly Parton - which topped the charts the UK charts for an impressive 10 weeks.

One Direction vocalist turned solo performer Harry Styles unexpectedly proved his acting chops in Christopher Nolan’s magnificent, immersive wartime epic Dunkirk. In a film with comparatively little dialogue, Styles has more lines than many of his fellow actors, but turns in an unselfish and highly effective performance as one of the young soldiers trying to get off the beach. Dunkirk director Nolan has a history of counterintuitive casting in his films, including Robin Williams as a bad guy in Insomnia (2002) and David Bowie playing the scientist Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006). According to Nolan, "We threw Harry into the mix with many, many other young men and he earned his seat at the table over a series of very hard-fought auditions."

R&B/hip hop artist Mary J. Blige co-stars alongside British actress Carey Mulligan in this period drama set in rural Mississippi just after World War 2. Mudbound, based on a novel by Hillary Jordan, follows the fortunes of two families, one black and one white, after the war finishes, and deals with hefty themes of racism and post traumatic stress disorder. The film’s director Dee Rees said of Blige in her role as Florence, a character who sees much but says little: "Mary is able to affect this reserved exterior, but have this very empathetic, alive interior." To the astonishment of some, she is almost unrecognisable in the role - “That was the goal,” says Blige. “I don’t want people to see Mary J. Blige at all. I wanted to disappear."