Non-Actor Vehicle: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) m (added Category:Examples Need Sorting using HotCat) |
No edit summary |
||
Line 10:
{{examples}}
* [[Sonja Henie]] in ''One in a Million''. She made quite a few films after that.
* Swimmer [[Esther Williams]] started a similar screen career with a supporting part in ''[[Andy Hardy]]'s Double Life''. A series of star vehicles followed, starting with ''Bathing Beauty''.
* [[Carol Heiss]] in ''[[Snow White and The Three Stooges]]'' was an attempt to make her the next Sonja Henie. It unfortunately didn't work out that well; [[The Three Stooges]] weren't even brought in until the studio realized Heiss couldn't carry the movie.
* [[Will Smith]] in ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]'', which saved him from bankruptcy and [[Star-Making Role|launched his blockbuster acting career]]. Definitely one of the best points in favor of this trope.
* [[Britney Spears]] in ''Crossroads''.
* [[Cindy Crawford]] in ''[[Fair Game]]''.
* [[David Bowie]] in ''[[The Man Who Fell to Earth]]''. He went on to appear in a number of films in both lead and supporting roles, such as ''[[Labyrinth]]'', and also made a foray into live theater in 1980 as the title character in the Broadway play ''The Elephant Man''. He also played [[What the Hell, Casting Agency?|Pontius Pilate]] in Scorsese's ''[[The Last Temptation of Christ]]''.
** What many people don't realize is that David Bowie was an acting student ''before'' he started making music. So this is somewhat of an aversion.
* Two big vehicles for [[Shaquille O'Neal
* [[Dwayne Johnson]] in ''[[The Mummy Trilogy|The Mummy Returns]]'' and ''[[The Scorpion King]]'' partially counts - it was more of a 'breakthrough to non-wrestling fans' rather than a direct example of this trope. He's had a decent acting career since then, to the point that he's not even credited as "The Rock" any more.
* [[Randy Couture]] in the [[Direct to Video|straight to DVD]] sequel to ''The Scorpion King'', subtitled "Rise Of A Warrior". He has appeared in a number of action films since then, though his acting skills left a lot to be desired.
* [[Roddy Piper]] in ''[[They Live!]]!'' He [[Throw It In|ad-libbed]] one of the [[Chew Bubblegum|most memorable lines]] in the film and helped choreograph its [[Fight Scene|(in)famous fistfight]].
* [[Hulk Hogan]] in ''[[No Holds Barred]]'', ''[[Suburban Commando]]'', ''[[Mr Nanny]]'', and ''[[Santa with Muscles]]''.
* [[Howie Long]] in ''Firestorm''.
* [[Harry Houdini]] in ''[[The Master Mystery]]''.
* [[Kurt Thomas]] in ''[[Gymkata]]''.
* [[Neil Diamond]] in ''[[The Jazz Singer]]'' (1980).
* [[Luciano Pavarotti]] in ''Yes, Giorgio''.
* [[Madonna]] in ''Desperately Seeking Susan'', where she played a pop musician. Led to an almost two-decades-long acting career, in which she generally did well if she was part of an ensemble (as in ''[[Dick Tracy]]'', ''[[A League of Their Own]]'', and ''[[Evita]]''), and... didn't if she was appearing in a star vehicle (as in ''everything else'' she ever did).
* [[Michael Jordan]] in ''[[Space Jam]]''.
* Jordan's then-teammate [[Dennis Rodman]] in ''[[Double Team]]'' (second-billed to [[Jean-Claude Van Damme]]) and ''[[Simon Sez]]''.
* Whichever wrestler is starring in any given [[WWE|WWE Films]] project:
** The Rock, as mentioned above.
** ''See No Evil'', starring [[Kane]].
** ''The Marine'', ''12 Rounds'', and ''Legendary'', starring [[John Cena]].
** ''The Condemned'', starring [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]].
** And direct-to-DVD films starring [[The Big Show]], [[Triple H]], [[Mr. Kennedy]], [[Randy Orton]] and [[Ted Dibiase, Jr.]]
* [[Mariah Carey]] in ''[[Glitter]]''.
* [[Ray Allen]] in ''He Got Game''.
* [[The Rolling Stones|Mick Jagger]] in ''Performance'' and ''Ned Kelly''.
* [[Vanilla Ice]] in ''Cool as Ice''. Since then, he's mostly appeared in cameos and non-major roles.
Line 43:
* College football star (and high-profile NFL flop) Brian Bosworth in ''Stone Cold''. He's done a fair amount of supporting roles since then.
* Brazilian soccer star Breno Mello and track & field athlete Adhemar da Silvain in ''Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus)''.
* [[Whitney Houston]] in ''The Bodyguard''.
* [[Bjork]] in ''[[Dancer in the Dark]]''. It was such a bad experience for her that she swore she'll never act again.
* Olivia Newton-John in ''[[Grease]]''.
* Anime example: woman pro-wrestler [[Cutey Suzuki]] as the voice of [[Iczer]]-3. Also happens with (many) singers who take a turn as voice actors/actresses.
* Olympic Swimming champion and male model [[Johnny Weissmuller]] as ''[[Tarzan]]: the Ape Man''. His performance proved so successful that [[Typecasting|he was cast in the same role eleven more times]].
* Olympic gymnast [[Cathy Rigby]] took a turn playing the title character in the ''[[Peter Pan]]'' stage musical in 1974—and did so well that she returned to it in [[The Nineties]] and again in a Branson, MO production in 2009.
* Cellist Yo-Yo Ma in the Atom Egoyan film ''[http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/sara.html Sarabande]''.
* [[Jackie Robinson]] in ''The Jackie Robinson Story''.
* [[Doris Day]], before starring in ''Romance on the High Seas'', was known only as a singer.
* [[50 Cent]] in the semi-autobiographical crime drama ''Get Rich Or Die Tryin'', which was essentially Fiddy's [[Follow The Leader|answer]] to ''[[8 Mile]]''. He has also appeared in a number of films since then, notably the [[Iraq War]] film ''Home of the Brave'' (2006), and ''Righteous Kill'' (2008).
* Taylor Firth in the 2010 remake of ''Ice Castles''.
* [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] in ''Hercules In New York''.
* [[Music/The Village People|The Village People]] and
* [[Twisted Sister|Dee Snider]] in the horror movie ''Strangeland'', which he wrote himself.
* In France, ''AB Productions'' was specialized on this... [[Macekre|Among other things.]]
Line 63:
* [[Disney Channel]] sitcoms like to do this a lot. Isn't it convenient that all of their stars can sing and "act"?
* Rudolf Nureyev (ballet dancer) as Rudolph Valentino (silent movie star) in ''Valentino''.
* [[Shirley Manson]], lead singer of the band Garbage, as Catherine Weaver in [[The Sarah Connor Chronicles|Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles]].
* ''[["Weird Al" Yankovic]]'' in ''[[UHF (film)|UHF]]'', but
* [[Bette Midler]] in ''The Rose''; though she had dabbled in the theatre in her early career, it was her first movie role. She went on to have a long and fairly successful career as an actress, reaching her peak in both fields at about the same time (the late [[The Eighties|1980s]] and early [[The Nineties|1990s]]).
* Korean Television Stations are frequently used as places where singing idols try and diversify their entertainment value:
** The [[Dogged Nice Guy]] in ''[[Boys Before Flowers]]'' is Kim Hyun Joon from the group [[SS 01]]. He shows up again in ''[[Playful Kiss]]''.
Line 74:
* John Wayne Bobbitt: ''[[Incredibly Lame Pun|Uncut]]''.
* [[John Denver]] in ''[[Oh, God!]]''.
* [[Steven Soderbergh]] likes this trope, apparently stemming from his experience working with non-actors in the 2005 indie film ''Bubble''. Sodebergh's use of this trope actually started with his surreal 1996 opus ''Shizopolis'', which stars the man himself in not one but two roles. It's probably one of the more interesting examples of the trope - underneath all its weird and surreal humor, it's really about Soderbergh examining the crumbling of his marriage (his real life ex-wife even appears as his character's wife), as well as his anxieties about the future of his directing career in the wake of a series of flops following his debut ''Sex, Lies & Videotape''.
** ''[[The Girlfriend Experience]]'' stars porn actress Sasha Grey as a high-class callgirl.
** ''[[Haywire]]'' stars [[Mixed Martial Arts]] covergirl [[Gina Carano]].
* The new ''[[The A-Team (film)|The A-Team]]'' film cast [[Mixed Martial Arts|former UFC champion]] Quentin "Rampage" Jackson as B.A. Baracus, filling the shoes of [[Mr. T]], who was also known for his tough-guy exploits before getting into acting.▼
▲* The new ''[[The A-Team (film)|The A-Team]]'' film cast [[Mixed Martial Arts|former UFC champion]] Quentin "Rampage" Jackson as B.A. Baracus, filling the shoes of Mr. T, who was also known for his tough-guy exploits before getting into acting.
* The 1956 Broadway musical ''Mr. Wonderful'' gave Sammy Davis, Jr. his first starring role; it incorporated a large portion of his nightclub act wholesale.
* Several members of [[AKB48]] took part in the anime ''[[AKB0048]]''. Quite a few of them had no acting experience up until
* Filipino celebrity chef Boy Logro of all people starred in the 2013 action-comedy film ''The Fighting Chefs''.
* Filipino boxer [[Manny Pacquiao]] appeared in a number of films since the early 2000s, where he usually played the role of, well, a boxer. Some of them like ''Anak ng Kumander'' and ''Wapakman''.
| |||