After a small role in the ensemble film “Valentine’s Day,” Taylor Swift lends her voice to Universal’s animated film version of Dr. Seuss’ classic “The Lorax.” In honor of Swift’s first major film role, albeit one in which you don’t see her face, take a look back at how other musicians fared with critics and at the box office in their first films.
AP
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Timberlake made his movie debut in the crime drama “Alpha Dog,” based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of a California teenager by young drug dealer Jesse James Hollywood. Timberlake played a fictional version of one of Hollywood’s accomplices. Although the $32 million-grossing movie got mixed reviews, Timberlake earned raves for his performance with Peter Travers saying he “walks off with the movie” and Richard Roeper saying Timberlake “has what it takes to be a genuine movie star.”
Darren Michaels / Universal Pictures
Ah, “Glitter:” The epitome of a superstar singer’s big-screen flop. Made for $22 million, “Glitter” only raked in $5.3 million at the box office. Playing a backup singer who becomes a star through the help of her well-connected DJ boyfriend, Carey was notoriously panned for her performance, earning a Razzie for Worst Actress and a subsequent nomination for the Worst Actress of the Decade.
REUTERS
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Cher had her first noteworthy film role opposite Meryl Streep in “Silkwood,” the 1983 drama inspired by the true story of a plutonium-plant worker who died in a car accident while investigating alleged wrongdoing at her company. While Streep played the title character, Cher played her roommate and co-worker and earned a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for her performance in the well-regarded film. Financially, the movie earned $35.6 million in the U.S.
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Rapper Ice Cube, pictured here at 2010’s “Lottery Ticket” premiere, is now a successful actor, writer, director and producer who’s focused mostly on movies and television—instead of music—as of late. His first film role was in the Oscar-nominated “Boyz n the Hood,” which made $57.5 million in the U.S. on a $6.5 million budget and has a 98% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Ice Cube, specifically, earned acclaim for his performance as “Doughboy,” with one critic describing it as “tremendously believable.”
UPI
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Although she’d spent many of her preteen years acting in “Good Times,” “Diff’rent Strokes” and the TV version of “Fame,” Janet Jackson made the jump to the big screen in “Poetic Justice.” Jackson played a young poet living in south central LA mourning the death of her boyfriend who ultimately learns to open her heart to a post office clerk and single father played by Tupac Shakur. Although she got an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song, her acting earned her a Razzie nomination for Worst Actress and a win for Worst New Star. Undeterred, though, Jackson has since starred in numerous other films, including “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps” (pictured here).
Bruce McBroom
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Beyonce played Foxxy Cleopatra, a sassy FBI agent, in the third Austin Powers film. The movie received mixed reviews, as one might expect for such a film, but still earned nearly $300 million worldwide. Beyonce, however, didn’t receive much acclaim for her performance as a straight woman, if you will, to Mike Myers’ Austin Powers, who helps him defeat Dutch supervillain Goldmember and rescue his dad from Dr. Evil’s clutches. But the lukewarm critical reception hasn’t deterred Beyonce from starring in numerous movies since.
New Line Cinema
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After feeling the “good vibrations” of success as pants-dropping rapper “Marky Mark,” Mark Wahlberg had his first starring role in the 1996 thriller “Fear” opposite Reese Witherspoon. Playing a violent teen whose obsession with Witherspoon’s character eventually turns deadly, Wahlberg helped the film earn nearly $21 million domestically on a rumored $6.5 million budget. He’s gone on to deliver well-regarded performances in movies like “Boogie Nights,” (pictured here) and “The Departed.”
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Will Smith may be one of the most powerful movie stars today, but back in 1993, when he was better known as “The Fresh Prince” for his rap career and his role in the TV show of the same name, he made his first noteworthy movie debut in “Made in America.” His supporting role in the comedy about a black girl who learns that her sperm-donor dad is a white man kickstarted Smith’s movie career. The film itself made an impressive $105 million worldwide, but that’s nothing compared to the box-office grosses Smith has pulled in with subsequent blockbusters. — By HILARY LEWIS
Chris Polk/FilmMagic.com
