14 DAY TRIAL // We are currently living in an age in which boundaries and artistic genres are all blurry and vague. The century of speed is also taking its toll on the new categories into which artists normally fall and the constant search for fame and publicity tempts them to try new territories, in the hope that they might be even more successful than they already are. Some attempts are breakthrough discoveries, but other utterly fail and disgrace themselves for ever in the eyes of the public and of the fans.
That's why we offer you a glimpse into the magic world of stars, where actors try to be singers and singers to be actors, along with their splendid accomplishments and failures...
Eminem was among the first rappers to hit it big in cinemas all over the world, with his 2001 semi-autobiographical story of '8 Mile'. People were very pleased about his performance and, at the time, rumors about being nominated for an Oscar were ever heard. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
Of course, he did act that good but, come to think of it, how hard can it be to play oneself in a movie? Because, let's be honest, the plot is not that much different from his own life and the beginning of his career as an established rap artist.
In other words, the movie was good, but not good enough for a second viewing or too memorable. It was a good thing to do at the time and nobody blames Em for joining the universal madness that seems to torture all stars. But a come-back? Surely that can't be a good thing for anyone... Eminem is said to star in a remake of 'Have Gun Will Travel' and fans are waiting breathlessly for him to appear again on the big screen. Get real, Eminem as a bounty hunter? Most unlikely.
Then, in 2005, aggressive rapper 50 Cent came to follow on his mate's footsteps with his really autobiographical 'Get Rich or Die Tryin''. It won a couple of awards (the movie, not the main star), it made a few waves, but between that and 50's statement that he plans to take the entire world by surprise and become the new Denzel Washington lies a huge distance.
50 has not the tenth part of Denzel's charismatic presence on the screen, not to mention talent and ability to adapt to the character's essence. But keep "tryin'" 50 because they say that perseverance is the mother of all good things...
These first two cases were the fortunate ones because, although making crappy movies, at least they were watched interestedly by the fans from all over the world.
The same can't be said about... Madonna (somehow, I think you guessed we were going to talk about her next). Considering her first cinematographic attempt in the '80s, with 'Desperately Seeking Susan', the woman doesn't seem to get the idea and quit acting for once and for all!
In 1996 she did what would probably remain in the history of humankind known as the worst movie ever. Only the soundtrack to 'Evita' (which was really good) salvaged some of the pop queen's reputation. And, yet, she didn't stop: in 2000 she launched in a romantic comedy with none other than gay hunky Rupert Everett, in 'The Next Best Thing'. Those were probably the longest two hours for every film critic that dared to see it.
A singer that acts even worse than Madonna is Mariah Carey, who has just had the pleasure of announcing us that she will star in another movie (too) soon. In 2001 she tortured fans that used to love and (what's more important) respect her, with her don't-quite-know-what-to-call-it 'Glitter', that depicts the story of a girl and the way in which she finds herself and the love of her life through music.
The romantic/comedy/musical scored 7 Razzie Awards and nominations for 'Worst "Musical" in the Last 25 Years', 'Worst Actress', 'Worst Director', 'Worst Picture', and the list just keeps getting longer. Talk about embarrassing moments! If you missed it, don't worry, another 'great Mariah Carey movie' is on the way.
Enough about bad acting. Let's turn our attention now to actors who made it into the world of music and proved everybody that acting means more than just looking hot and learning lines.
We begin our countdown with the 2005 mega-hit 'Walk the Line' and actor turned singer, Joaquin Phoenix. The man showed us repeatedly that he can do whatever part is required of him (he already own an Oscar statuette for his bad-guy part in 'Gladiator'); now, he proves that he can also sing like and, some say, even better than rock legend Johnny Cash.
The same goes for his on-screen partner Reese Witherspoon who, besides having to demonstrate the world that she isn't just 'legally blonde', wanted to see for herself that she is more than an actress meant to star only in comedies. And that she did! The pair sings beautifully and the raw magnetism that each emanates is just a plus for the viewers.
Another successful couple that moved from the screen into the record studios is that made up of Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. They broke the audience's heart with their love songs from the 'Moulin Rouge' in 2001 and were, consequently, universally appreciated and acknowledged as complete artists.
For the last illustrative case we approach a remake of one of the century's most beautiful love stories, 'The Phantom of the Opera' (2004), based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's classical musical. Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson make up a triangle whose mystery and fatal attraction transcends the screen and touches deeply the heart of the spectator. The music is great and the voices that interpret it are even greater (especially that of Butler).
Probably you have already noticed that all the actors that managed to prove they can be singers as well as actors have, none the less, stuck to acting and didn't even dream of a musical career. Could that be a hint for all the singers that are vainly trying to make it into Hollywood?
