Until the moment I put the finishing touches on this post I had no idea that actor Jeff Bridges had recorded an album of music. He seems to be a shoo-in to win the Oscar for Best Actor this Sunday night, but as a result of having released an album of his musical performances other than whatever he performs in his recent film, Crazy Heart, he is disqualified from this Battle Royale.
Specifically I’m asking that we determine the best portrayal of a musician (including actual musical performances) by a typically non-musician actor.
The actor needs to be portraying a musician; he or she cannot simply break out into song as a teenage greaser in a musical set at Rydell High. Beside, John Travolta, like Jeff Bridges, would also be disqualified for having released his own albums.
Furthermore the actor needs to actually perform music in the film. Despite having seen the film about a half dozen times, I’m not sure if I know whether Justine Bateman or Julia Roberts actually played and/or sang in Satisfaction. Please research this issue before nominating either one of them. Same goes for Mary Stuart Masterson in Some Kind of Wonderful and countless other actors who were so convincing that it’s hard to tell if they could really play.
A few more contenders before I ask you to put on your thinking caps and hash this out…
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Man, have you ever seen Rebecca De Mornay strut around with a headless bass and sing dimestore Pat Benetar in the remake of And God Created Woman? Craptastic – and the singing may be authentic!
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Didn’t Val Kilmer actually sing in The Doors? If he hasn’t released an album of music other than his work on that film’s soundtrack (and any other movie soundtracks on which he might have appeared), he would count.
Although she sang painfully, Jennifer Jason Leigh merits consideration for her performances in Georgia.
Have you ever seen What We Do Is Secret, a small rock biopic about a Darby Crash and The Germs? I stumbled across it on cable late one night, and it was very good. It gave me no more appreciation for the music of The Germs, but it was well acted, felt more authentic than most Hollywood movies about rock ‘n roll, and it gave me a feel for that band’s humanity and aspirations. The guy who played Crash, Shane West, is really good at sucking as a hardcore singer who really wants to be David Bowie.
Robert Duvall always gets the six-pack from me, and his work in Tender Mercies can’t be beat. However, he doesn’t perform a whole lot of music in the film relative to the intense performances by some of our other challengers.
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I don’t know whether the Twilight women playing Joan Jett in that movie coming out on The Runaways actually sings or not in that film, but she does sing and play guitar, I believe, in Into the Wild. Kristen Stewart – that’s her name. She counts.
You get the idea, right? Let’s put our thinking caps on, consider all worthy suggestions, and determine, perhaps once and for all, the best portrayal of a musician (including actual musical performances) by a typically non-musician actor.
Val has sung in a couple of his films as well as portraying and singing as Jim Morrison , but possibly doesn’t count as he has a cd of him singing avaiable from his web site!
Val Kilmer definitely wins for his work in “Top Secret.”
You already mentioned her but Jennifer Jason Leigh was the first one that popped into my mind. Not good singing, in fact bad enough to make you squirm while you’re watching it but it felt really authentic and perfect for the part.
I think that Gary Busey sang and played all of his bits in the Buddy Holly Story.
And are the guys in Spinal Tap disqualified because they released the albums after the fact? It doesn’t seem fair to penalize them for being too good.
And the winner is…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeCVszlGzQI
chrismo, welcome aboard and thanks for letting us know that Val Kilmer is DISQUALIFIED! Oh well, at least his nomination gave me one more chance to ponder Kyle McLachlan’s glue-on sideburns as Ray Manzarek.
Gotta disqualify Spinal Tap too, cdm. Sorry, but wasn’t Michael McKean in a late version of one of those sunshine pop bands, maybe the band that did “Just Walk Away Renee”? (Blanking on their name.) He’d long ago lost his amateur status.
Mr. Mod, the “Just Walk Away Renee” tunesmiths were the Left Banke.
My nomination would be Dick Shawn for his portrayal as LSD in the Producers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD4iaasR__k
Thanks for nothing by the way. The well cherished memory of a nude Rebecca DeMornay from Risky Business has been wiped away by the sight of her with a Steinberger bass.
Gary Busey as Buddy Holly?
That Rebecca DePORNay, sir. She was also seen in the hot tub scene of the original Spinal Tap short film. The girl gets around.
TB
Busey as Holly would be a strong candidate, but he lost his amateur status long before that film. From Wikipedia:
For some reason Henry Gibson’s turn in Nashville as a Roy Acuff-like country patriarch came to mind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rnx7rWuStA
I had for gotten that this song was actually the opening credit sequence. I could sing the chorus in my mind, even though I probably haven’t seen Nashville since it came out in 1975. There may be some other contenders for this category in that movie.
Glad you brought up Gibson’s turn in Nashville, BigSteve. That’s a personal favorite and one of the funniest, most-believable songs in all of cinema’s fake-song greatest hits. There are some other great performances in that movie, but I believe some of the actors (eg, Ronee Blakely – is that her name?) lost their amateur status.
John C. Reilly in Walk Hard.
Tim Robbins role as senatorial candidate/folk singer Bob Roberts is worth a mention.
TB
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Wow, that Rebecca De Mornay clip is bad, it is Justine Bateman in Satisfaction bad. It’s damn near Y Kant Tori Read bad.
Satisfaction was on late nite TV a few weeks back and I stayed up on a weekday night until 3 AM to see Liam Nisan break many state laws fooling around with young Justine. I can’t tell if the movie / band is that bad or was that just a product of the times.
jungleland2, I’ve watched that movie way too many times. It’s terrible! Young Julia Roberts, however, an actor and woman who holds little appeal for me, stands out in a supporting role. You can easily assess her relative talent.
Not remotely rock ‘n roll, but who’s the handsome British actor who dazzles on piano and vocals in a scene or two in Gosford Park? And is it another Altman movie in which Jack Lemmon tinkles the ivories, but as himself, not a “musician” character?
The Gosford Park guy is Jeremy Northam, playing Ivor Novello.
I prefer John C. Reilly as a musician in Boogie Nights. The studio scenes of him and Wahlberg are hilarious.
Sean Penn bothers me in Sweet and Lowdown. He moves his hands around a lot on the neck portraying the Django-like guitar player, but the moves are random and distracting. I would almost guarantee Penn knows how to play “some” guitar, so I don’t know why he didn’t think his imitation was phony-looking.
Not sure how that DeMornay scene would make anyone LESS of a fan. You must really hate the headless bass.
I agree with Tim Robbins. Bob Roberts is GREAT.
I just remembered: Tim Robbins is disqualified! He appears on a Pete Seeger tribute album from the ’90s I remember my Mom owning.
I’m gonna do an end-around on the Spinal Tap issue and suggest Eugene Levy and Catharine O’Hara as Mitch & Mickie in “A Mighty Wind.”
And I think Shane West/Darby Germs has to be disqualified or at least given an award. In perhaps a movie-music first of all time, he is now the singer of the reunited Germs.
In TB’s defense, that bass is not only headless but pointy, a detail I should have pointed out before anyone watched that clip.
Levy and O’Hara are strong contenders, provided they retained their amateur status. (If Catherine makes a guest appearance on one of her crazy sister’s albums all bets are off!)
I had no idea about West actually joining The Germs. DISQUALIFIED!
Gary Oldham – Sid and Nancy
yeah I’m gonna 2nd Gary Oldman.
He’s WAY better than real Sid was.
Let’s not forget the redoubtable Ralph Macchio in “Crossroads.”
There was also a late 70s TV movie called “Cotton Candy” in which Charles Martin Smith played (I think) drums.
Wow, eh, you RIPPED that movie from the recesses of my memories. I barely remember that flick, but I do remember Charles Martin Smith in it. Lest we forget, he was also a Cricket in Busey’s band.
TB
Charles Martin Smith may be the closest we get to a Ronnie Wood of movie rock.
I enjoyed Ewan McGregor as “Iggy” in Velvet Goldmine.
Michael Pare, specifically for Eddie & The Cruisers 2: Eddie Lives.
This thread has elicited some great comments, but before it slips off The Main Stage and out of your mind I would like to encourage you to check out the Travolta tunes I posted. I think you’ll agree they showed a lot of promise.
I’m surprised no one nominated Eddie Murphy’s Party All the Time in the documentary (short) category.