10 Actors You Forgot Starred In Movie Musicals

Summary

• Some unlikely actors have appeared in movie musicals, such as Tom Hardy in
  London Road
  , Kate Winslet in
  Christmas Carol: The Movie
  , and Tom Cruise in
  Rock of Ages
  .
• These actors surprised audiences with their musical performances, even though they are not typically associated with the genre.
• While some of these movie musicals were acclaimed, others were forgotten or considered flops, like
  London Road
  and
  Rock of Ages
  .

While many actors can sing and dance in addition to acting, there are some stars even eagle-eyed viewers could forget appeared in movie musicals. The word “musical” typically brings to mind a certain type of movie. There are bleak, dark musicals like Les Misérables; bawdy, subversive musicals like Hairspray or Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical; and even horror musicals like Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. However, musicals are still usually seen as light, fun movies filled with singing, choreographed dance routines, colorful characters, and flashy costumes.

As such, some actors just don’t seem like the musical type. While the best musicals of all time star everyone from Julie Andrews to Ryan Gosling, it can be tough to picture John Wayne or Jason Statham singing and dancing their way through a musical number. Despite this, some very unlikely actors have appeared in movie musicals over the years. Sometimes, this has resulted in legendarily odd performances like Russell Crowe’s memorable role in Les Misérables. However, more often than not, these turns are simply forgotten.

10 Tom Hardy (London Road)

The 2015 movie London Road is nothing if not ambitious. The movie blends elements of the musical, mystery, crime, and drama genres in an ambitious plot based on a real-life string of killings. This grim, strange mix of serial killer docudrama and movie musical is surprising for many reasons, among them the fact that potential Bond 26 007 candidate Tom Hardy has a major role. While critically acclaimed, this offbeat oddity was too bizarre to become a mainstream hit.

9 Kate Winslet (Christmas Carol: The Movie)

Christmas Carol: The Movie was a major flop with critics and viewers upon its release, which might explain why so few people have heard of the animated musical. A loose adaptation of the classic Dickens tale of the same name, Christmas Carol: The Movie gives its younger version of Scrooge a love interest in the form of Kate Winslet’s Belle. While Christmas Carol: The Movie was effectively erased from the cultural consciousness in the years that followed, Belle’s solo song “What If” became a huge chart hit in Europe.

8 Tom Cruise (Rock Of Ages)

While the box office success of Top Gun: Maverick makes this easy to forget, Tom Cruise has weathered his fair share of high-profile flops throughout his lengthy career. Among these largely forgotten duds is 2012’s jukebox musical Rock of Ages, which sees Cruise portraying an arrogant hair metal superstar. Cruise has a ball in the movie, but unfortunately, he is one of the few highlights in a star-studded misfire that was forgotten for good reason.

7 Uma Thurman (The Producers)

Uma Thurman’s career has seen her move seamlessly between indie dramas, intense action movies, and light comedies. However, few viewers would associate the star with musicals. That said, Thurman played the pivotal role of Ulla in 2005’s movie adaptation of The Producers. Ulla is the well-meaning receptionist of the eponymous deceitful financiers. Even though she appears alongside comedic heavyweights like Nathan Lane and Will Ferrell, Thurman manages to excel in the supporting role and steal her scenes.

6 Robert De Niro (New York, New York)

One of the last names that viewers are likely to associate with musicals is on-screen tough guy Robert DeNiro. Then again, one name even less linked with the light-hearted genre is gangster movie legend Martin Scorsese. However, while Scorsese and DeNiro’s other, darker collaborations have plumbed the depths of human sin, 1977’s New York, New York proved the pair have range and a lighter side. A romantic comedy-drama about two musicians who struggle to hold onto their relationships thanks to their growing fame, New York, New York was unfairly dismissed as inessential upon release.

5 Christian Bale (Newsies)

Before Christian Bale became a method acting legend, he was a child star. As a young actor, the future Oscar contender starred in director Kenny Ortega’s disastrous movie adaptation of the Broadway classic Newsies. A playful, light-hearted musical about the 1899 Newsboys’ Strike, Newsies was a commercial flop upon release. Fortunately for its young star, this didn’t stop Bale from dominating the multiplex in the decades that followed.

4 Daniel Day-Lewis (Nine)

2009’s Nine is a bizarre musical partially based on Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2. The movie charts the life and loves of an arrogant Italian filmmaker as he struggles with his encroaching old age and a bad case of writer’s block. Among the hero’s lovers are Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, and Kate Hudson, but these stars aren’t the only notable names in the movie. Retired acting legend Daniel Day-Lewis plays Nine’s mercurial leading man, proving that his skills aren’t limited to acting alone.

3 Robert Downey Jr. (The Singing Detective)

Shortly before Shane Black’s directorial debut Kiss Kiss Bang Bang reignited the career of its leading man, Robert Downey Jr., the troubled actor starred in another blackly comic neo-noir self-parody. However, 2003’s The Singing Detective wasn’t as big a hit. Based on a cult British TV miniseries, The Singing Detective stars Downey Jr. as a hard-boiled novelist who suffers surreal hallucinations while hospitalized. Despite a supporting cast including Carla Gugino and Katie Holmes, this tonally confused misfire flopped upon release.

2 Idris Elba (Cats)

In the case of some of the actors listed here, it is tough to see why their movie musicals were forgotten. However, it is pretty easy to guess why no one talks about Idris Elba’s movie musical. 2019’s terrible Cats adaptation was one of the biggest box office bombs of all time, and the movie managed to earn more disdain from critics than almost any other blockbuster in the last few decades. Tonally confused, visually upsetting, and bereft of any comprehensible plot, Cats was a true disaster. However, Elba can rest easy knowing that Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, Jennifer Hudson, and other talented performers ended up in the movie too.

1 Gerard Butler (Phantom of the Opera)

In the years since 2004, Gerard Butler has made a name for himself as a hard-edged action star. Movies like Copshop and Plane posit him as a tough, ultra-macho leading man, an image he honed via everything from Den of Thieves to London Has Fallen to Machine Gun Preacher. This persona dates back as far as 2006’s historical action extravaganza 300. However, before that movie made him a star, Butler’s big break came in 2004’s The Phantom of the Opera. There, he sang his heart out in the title role and proved that musicals can have the most unlikely stars.