Alanis Morissette And Five Other Singers Who Should Act More
Alanis Morissette—angry/thoughtful lady-pop voice of the 90s—sometimes acts. She showed up as God in Dogma and a bisexual on Sex and the City. And now she’s appearing on Weeds for seven episodes. And we’re pretty happy about it.
Why God why?, you may ask. Well, there’s just always been something beguiling about Ms. Morissette—her odd, alien-like Canadianism, her sad, wistful eyes—that we just like on screen. Anyway, here’s a picture of her as Nancy’s new gynecologist. Exciting.
And, hey, there are other musicians we’d like to act more. They include:
Mos Def
While pretty much every rapper decides to act at some point, Def is one of the few that can actually act. He even got credit for his stage chops, appearing in Suzan-Lori Parks’ very difficult play Topdog/Underdog on Broadway in 2002. And, OK, so Def studied theatre at NYU and has been acting professionally since he was a kid, but still, for a while there he was much better known as a musician than an actor, so it still sort of counts.
Macy Gray
Did you see her all weird and crazy in Training Day? Wasn’t it fun? We need more of that. Sure there aren’t that many parts that a raspy crazed bumblebee like grey can actually play, but c’mon, there are enough movies that call for raspy crazed bumblebees to at least make acting a funny side-career. Will she play a bee to someone else’s spider in Mama Black Widow?
Courtney Love
Speaking of crazy people. Though Love’s personal life has taken a turn south over the past, oh fifteen years or so, she’s fairly magnetic on screen. She did really nice work in The People vs. Larry Flynt and Man on the Moon and, hell, wasn’t bad in that otherwise-bad thriller Trapped. She’s rumored to be in some upcoming comedy called Mother’s Little Helpers, so hopefully that’s something.
Jack White
Was pleasant and poised in Cold Mountain, and deftly played himself opposite his awkward wife-friend-girlfriend-sister-whatever Meg White in Coffee & Cigarettes. He was also Elvis in that Walk Hard movie that no one saw. Do more movies that people will see, Mr. White!
Pete Wentz
Just kidding.
Obviously there are others—Cher and Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire and Jon Bon Jovi are always welcome. Who else?
- Next Post: How Censorship Finally Helped Wikipedia’s Co-Founder »
- « Previous Post: Call Celine’s People, We Might Not Have A ‘Best Song’ Oscar Category
Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
Haven't read all the comments, but anyone mention Alanis on Lovespring International? The tragically short (1-season) semi-improv show from a few years ago? I mean the show was awesome as it was, but Alanis was brilliant in her episode.
Yma Sumac.
@Thistledew: Nick Lachey also played a great Nick Lachey on that terribly great show
N.Bells
@AuntPenny: He was my highschool sweetheart's first crush in Labyrinth. Every scene accentuated his enormous package. What a schlong.
Madonna, definitely!!! Evita is my favorite, like, ever.
karts
@atlasfugged: It frightens me to type this, but I swear the recaps are often (by far) the best part of my day. I hope he will continue to make them available from somewhere, although I would also be perfectly happily to die peacefully in my sleep.
sanyucat
@enriquez the water bottle: Good one. I was thinking about this when I posted last:
+ Watch video
AuntPenny
Alanis, You Can't do that on Televsion!
Nickyboy is now the bass player for VH. Suck it, Wolfie!!
@RheaPollstry: Yay!
Joaquin Phoenix. No more rap, just acting.
mbuki_dru
@contradicto: The recaps, who the fuck is going to the recaps?!
atlasfugged
@TedSez: Yeah. This was inevitable. Someone sitting on that much talent wasn't going to stay at Gawker forever. A great many of us will follow wherever he goes.
are friends electric?
@noonecaresowen: You can't read books about Gossip Girl and The Hills every week. :(
ArmCandy
Yay. And yes to Courtney Love as well.
Alanis, I have a crush on you.
Whenever I hear your music, you remind me of my psychotic High School/College, girlfriends - the ones where were totally smart, but used that intelligence to party hard and grind people they didn't like into the dirt
@contradicto: Let me second that NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!
katekate is squared
@contradicto: FUCK!!!!!!!
Then again, if he's leaving for a book deal, then YAY!!!!!!
noonecaresowen
@nicepony: He was on Twin Peaks and had his on show on Showtime (I think). He's a pretty decent actor, I think.
What about my avatar, Ronee Blakley? She's done some acting over the years. She was fucking incredible in 'Nashville' and bat-shit crazy in 'A Nightmare on Elm Street.'
"He's dead, honey, because Mommy killed him."
I liked her on Nip/Tuck as Liz's girlfriend, too.
I'll add Alicia Keys to the list. I only saw her in that Secret Bee movie or something like that and I thought she did a good job.
Dayman-Fan
@Jezedude: Lyle Lovett was weirdly great in the Player, but he single-handedly knocked Short Cuts down (more than) a few pegs in my eyes with his cathartic eat-some-bread scene with Andie MacDowell. Horrible.
@busterbluth:
Right behind you. The jilted diva shtick that runs through her records is like (fake) fingernails on a blackboard.
lrubemp
@contradicto:I am very sad. Richard's writing has been a means of fun escape from work. Either way, thanks for the fun Richard.
@contradicto: No! Say it isn't so!
@City_Dater: Mos Def doing a Mike Tyson impression in that Bruce Willis movie 16 Blocks...not so good.
Anthony_Underscore
@PomPom: "Down by Law" as well. the list goes on.
@contradicto: Well, that just sucks in an unpleasant way.
JulesNoctambule
@badasscat: Well, that didn't work.
Are we all forgetting that Alanis was an actress before she was a singer??
+ Watch video
@AndThenTheresMaude: In this season's finale of 30 rock, she had the best line: "I'm one of the drunk ones!" Great delivery.
BenderingTimeV2
Whitney Houston, Erykah Badu, and Mick Jagger
Are we seriously going to dance around the bigger issue here? That being her shitty guest-arc on 'Nip/Tuck' as Liz's bipolar girlfriend.
Oh no. So I've got a month left to read Gawker, eh? I love you and will follow you anywhere.
But this post needs a correction. "Mother's little helpers" pertains to Courtney Love, yes, but it's not a film.
SaraRueful
@contradicto: There goes the best part of Gawker.
@contradicto: Wait, so we're going to have to remember other letters to type in our browser bars to read Richard's writing? That's impossible!
Oh, wait, no, that's actually quite easy. Yay, Internet! And best o' luck, Richard.
Lemmy from Motorhead.
bittergreen
Erykah Badu
Richard, are you really leaving the gawk?
[[www.theawl.com]]
@mmstk101: Mo Collins, unsung heroine of comedy... That was supposed to go to you. Thanks for the video!
Banjo-Sea Kitten
Don't hate on Alanis, agree with Richard, she's hot in an undefined way. Nobody will ever beat Dean Martin as Matt Helm in that old secret agent series...
Martiniman
@QuinnButes: I gotta agree with that one, when she appeared in that full nude body suit at the Junos, I was done.
[www.vancouversun.com]
DeadliestSin
Ill probably get some shit for this but...Justin Timberlake. Yes, he was in the crapfest that was The Love Guru but he is always awesome on SNL.
@rockandhardPL: Serious as a heart attack. Wait, no, I really was joking. And I have no idea what you're talking about - what's Major Love? I'm assuming a straight-to-dvd bomb?
@Banjo-Sea Kitten: Mo Collins. Such an unsung heroine of comedy.
@rockandhardPL: we need a new category for the millennium: "Enhanced Old." You can still be a sex symbol too, no problem.
Banjo-Sea Kitten
I dunno guys, Pete Wentz was awesome in One Tree Hill. as Pete Wentz.
Thistledew
@Colonel Mustard: How about Hocus Pocus Bette Midler?
Thistledew
@Jezedude: seconded!
PomPom
@City_Dater: Also so, so good in Short Cuts
PomPom
@FritzIno: And she was on Gossip Girl, in the episode where Blair first meets Cyrus, which became one of the best relationships on that show.
AndThenTheresMaude
Remember Chris Isaak as a SWAT team guy in Silence of the Lambs...did he do anything else after that?
I could IMDB, but know there will be someone on here with encyclopediac knowledge of his career.
nicepony
@City_Dater: He was fantastic in Wristcutters. And The Outsiders, of course.
LotharOfTheHillPeople
@nicepony: I was just about to say that. He's very good.
In fact, just use this Onion AV list for a primer on musicians turned actors: [www.avclub.com]
Nigromancer
Harry Connick, Jr. - duh!
@AuntPenny:Her face is too weird now. What would she play? Young, old? Alien? Love Cher though.
Can I get a shout-out to flea? He's always funny. The big lebowski, The second back to the future movie, and that movie with charlie sheen, and the car... you know the one
@Kid Twist: So true.
Martita
@QuinnButes:Insufferably amazing. Say word!
@bytememehard: Nancy Drew And The Mystery Of The Missing Uterus.
@Conch:I really hope you are joking. Did you see (the cover because you obviously didn't watch the movie) Major Love or something??
@AuntPenny: The greatest scene he, or in that case, ANYONE has ever done:
+ Watch video
@DahlELama: She also did a story arc on Nip/Tuck playing the lesbian lover of their anesthesiologist.
Nigromancer
@busterbluth:And I will eat it. Alanis can do no wrong. Ever. Ever.
Richard, where are you going??? Best of luck, but what a loss to Gawker. I've always loved your posts and comments. Hope to see you on the web again!
meerkat
@City_Dater: Sadly, maybe because of his focus on acting, his musical production and performances seemed to have suffered recently.
Nigromancer
@BookishLookish:
Adam Ant was on Northern Exposure briefly. He still looked pretty good and he was charming. That was followed by a period of being institutionalized, so he might be quite a mess now.
City_Dater
@contradicto: Thank you for the link. If true, I'm devastated.
@Banjo-Sea Kitten: Cher is a better actress than a singer, I think. She's a pretty good singer, but she's a really, really wonderful actress.
AuntPenny
I read that as "Nancy Drew's gynecologist" and thought, oh no, the end of innocence.
@Richard Lawson Done with Gawker
@kitson.harvey:
No...I was thinking more of him playing the Dromio twins in a televised Comedy of Errors a million years ago.
Highlander, the Series? Shouldn't that just be a MadTV skit idea, not something that actually happened?
City_Dater
How about JT...I've always wondered how he would do in a Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly/Justin Bateman/Michael Cera etc. buddy-ensemble comedy.
LadyShoulder
@contradicto: Whaaaa?
Ok, I'll say it, I enjoyed T.I. in ATL.
@Banjo-Sea Kitten: I love Alanis! MadTV also did a really funny parody of her in this clip (which hopefully shows up):
+ Watch video
@contradicto: No, he's just going for a hike on the Appalachian Trail.
daveyjonesisdead
Bette Midler! Well, not Stepford Wives Bette Midler or Drowning Mona Bette Midler or The Women Bette Midler, but Ruthless People, Big Business, or Gypsy Bette Midler.
Bring back Doris Day. I don't care if she's old. The animals love her too.
Banjo-Sea Kitten
@anxiousart: Kevin Bacon ("Bacon Brothers") and Gary Sinise ("Lt. Dan Band") appear to do it without being total dicks.
Mymoustache
@contradicto: i need details!
Richard, you quit? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...!!!!!!
@PrincessKashmir:
+ Watch video
Dwight Yoakam.
nicepony
William Shatner is equally good as an actor and a singer.
Definitely Dwight Yoakam. Great in Slingblade. M-hm. And Panic Room. Even though he's pretty scary without his cowboy hat.
lowest99
@RheaPollstry: And I'll serve said bitch up for supper!
She was pretty awesome as God.
Also: Walk Hard was funny as fuck.
The singers I want to see do some acting are Ian Astbury of the Cult and Adam Ant, because they used to be beautiful and I want to see how their faces are falling apart. I'm sick like that.
@City_Dater: By "interesting", are you meaning Highlander, the Series?
I can't think of too many musicians-to-actors examples that should be encouraged (Bowie, for sure, has stayed away from acting for far too long - and a shout out to Flight of the Concords), but what I'm far more concerned about involves the actor-to-music disaster. Billy Bob Thornton fails on ego alone (anyone see him on Maher the other night? Serious jerk-off). I'm sure I don't need to mention Keanu. But Alanis, yeah sure - keep on keepin' on!
anxiousart
Anything with more Macy Gray is good in my book, really.
CYNDI LAUPER. Won and Emmy for "Mad About You" appearances. AND SHE IS SO OVERLOOKED AND UNDER RATED!!!
FritzIno
@busterbluth: Don't you knock my Alanis. I'll cut a bitch.
@Slackferno:
also in Short Cuts
@Slackferno: Oh, yeah! He shows up a lot, in these odd random cameos, like as a minister in "Mad About You" stray bits here and there, always laconic and cool. Man, I could listen to his music everyday. Probably do.
Common...
Mymoustache
@RheaPollstry: I did! I did make italics!!!
Courtney isn't bad at all and CHER is a quite a good actress and I've loved Diana Ross over the years.
There was a really funny fake video made on MadTV with Alanis in a bathtub years ago. I could see then that she had a spark of acting talent.
Banjo-Sea Kitten
@DahlELama: She also did an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Did I make italics??
@City_Dater: I remember seeing him on "That 70s Show" and being pleasantly surprised.
Lyle Lovett. He was great in The Opposite of Sex and The Player.
Michael Bolton, if only because it will keep him from singing.
irishflyesq
as a canadian, i must say that i would like for Alanis not do anymore acting/singing/performing/appearing on television of any kind. ever. that woman is insufferable.
QuinnButes
@PrincessKashmir: See that I did not know--there was literally no show on TV that terrified me more as a kid. It was the cracking face that did it. My siblings still find this hilarious.
DahlELama
And what about Tom Waits? He's an interesting screen presence...
I LOVE this game!
City_Dater
@DahlELama: And You Can't Do That On Television!
PrincessKashmir
Roger Daltrey -- after the weird TOMMY movie, he did some interesting stuff, but not a lot here in the US. He recently was a terrific bad guy on original flavor CSI.
City_Dater
hIsn't Alanis more actress turned singer anyhoo?
@AuntPenny:
She's done acting off and on since she was a kid doing skits on a show called "You Can't Do That On Television." There's probably some clips of her doing that show somewhere on YouTube.
FuriousD1
@DahlELama: Ha, OMG, I totally forgot! Even more reason for her to act.
Richard Jeremiah Lawson (no, I don't really know your middle name, but it seemed like a "call him by his FULL name scenario)--did you really just omit a three-episode arc of Degrassi: The Next Generation from Alanis' acting credits?
I'm not angry; I'm just...disappointed.
DahlELama
Sting and David Bowie!
And Mos Def is terrific onstage and screen -there should be some kind of "Draft Mos" movement to get him to act more.
City_Dater
Jessica Simpson, anyone?
Alanis is a surprisingly good actress. Never really dug her music, but she's been charming in everything I've seen her in. Her appearance in "Head Case" was really good.
David Bowie gets a free pass to do ANYTHING.
AuntPenny
Anything that will keep Alanis from "singing" is good in my book.