A movie kind of love ... David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth
In the business they call "show", a good-natured optimism prevails. Despite the patchy-at-best record of musicians trying their hand at acting, they still keep lining them up and casting them. This week alone, David Bowie looks set to appear in Dr Who as an alien, while the makers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off Ripper are lining up Peter Doherty to play a zombie, presumably after watching a Babyshambles gig.
Bowie of course is no stranger to the dramatic arts. Last seen abusing Ricky Gervais in song, he made his bones with The Man Who Fell to Earth, although the undoubted pinnacle of his acting career was voicing a character for SpongeBob SquarePants. The 80s saw a telling performance from David Essex in Silver Dream Racer. Whatever our feelings on his performance, his stunt double certainly knew how to ride.
Your musician often has difficulty grasping the concept less-is-more when it comes to acting, something illustrated by the tragic case of Kyle MacLachlan murdering little-known rocker Sting for overacting in Dune. And who can forget Jason Orange's performance in Lynda La Plante's critically panned Killer Net? Everyone apart from me, apparently.
There are the successes, of course. Mark Wahlberg was a lousy rapper yet proves himself an increasingly impressive actor, and his Three Kings co-star Ice Cube has a series of strong performances under his belt. Indeed, rappers in general seem to make the transition better than rockers, with Mos Def, Tupac Shakur, Sticky Fingaz, Queen Latifah, Will Smith, LL Cool J and Ice T all putting in highly creditable performances.
I'll be honest - I admire any musician willing to put their reputation on the line in the name of expanding their artistic horizons. It's well-known that we journalists are filth who hate life and ourselves, and there's nothing we like better than when a Shanghai Surprise or Under The Cherry Moon falls into our lap for a critical mauling. If shooting fish in a barrel were an Olympic sport, we'd sweep the board.
So, let's hear it for the men and women who put down their instruments and pick up a script. I've got Cher winning an Oscar for Moonstruck as the most impressive acting achievement from a musician. What about you?
