Musicians going Hollywood: What separates pop hits and film flops

For a prime case of how not to do this, look no further than 50 Cent. Following the success of Eminem's "8 Mile,” Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson wanted to get his own kind of prestige film going, and he followed many of the same elements of success: The film "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" was a story loosely based on his own life, it had a prestige director (in this case, multiple-Oscar nominee Jim Sheridan), and he — of course! — would do the soundtrack. An acting coach was hired, but Sheridan had her removed, insisting that if 50 Cent’s performance was bad, it would be due to his direction. Well, Sheridan is eating his own words now. As the Orlando Sentinel noted in its review: "Don't for a second think that we're meeting the next great rap star to become a movie star." The movie was a flop.

Making music and doing stand-up and acting for film are all very different crafts, and entertainers do not simply drift from one to another without pushing themselves. OutKast's André 3000 has a lot of personality and has also starred in a lot of films. But in veering from "Be Cool" to providing a voice in "Charlotte's Web" to his attempted comic turn in the Will Ferrell film "Semi-Pro,” André perhaps jumped for the big times a bit too quickly, opting for larger roles without having a lot of experience carrying such huge vehicles, which is perhaps why his Jimi Hendrix passion project, "Jimi: All Is By My Side,” received a notably mixed critical reception. (Heck, Big Boi proved to be the most compelling part of the OutKast feature film, "Idlewild.”)

On the other side of that coin is Chicago rapper Common. He is aware that his public persona is that of someone who is steely and stern, but he's played that up, taking on small roles that either aid that personality in a dramatic fashion (as a soldier in "Terminator Salvation") or plays off  it for laughs (like his role as a heavy in the Steve Carell/Tina Fey comedy, "Date Night"). He's had little roles here and there, each one building off the last, even netting himself a recurring role on the AMC show "Hell on Wheels.” Nowadays, he's a leading player in films like "All About Nina" and "Smallfoot,” but when he held his own against Keanu Reeves in a gunfight in "John Wick: Chapter 2,” he was wholly believable as an adversary and made a compelling case for turning into an action star.

Whether intentional or not, Common may have modeled his path after that of Frank Sinatra, who played himself (quite literally) in a few small features and shorts before stepping up to hold his own against the likes of Gene Kelly and Burt Lancaster, even winning an Academy Award for his work in "From Here to Eternity.” But Sinatra,  playing roles that reflected his own personality before gradually branching out, did the work. Vanilla Ice, who starred in his own critically derided 1991 film, "Cool as Ice,” did not.

And so the cycle continues: Many rappers and rock stars will get a taste of the big time and think that their notoriety alone is enough to get them onto a movie marquee. Prince had an incredible vanity project in the form of "Purple Rain,” but the film is best remembered for his music, not for his performance (or any of his other acting attempts since then). Britney Spears and Mariah Carey learned similar lessons the hard way, while A$AP Rocky (a series regular in USA's "Mr. Robot"), Justin Timberlake, Cher and even Harry Connick Jr. have all managed to carve out respectable acting careers for themselves. Cher has a Best Actress Academy Award, while Bobby Darin, Mark Wahlberg and Queen Latifah have all netted Oscar nominations for their acting.

So while Chris "Ludacris" Bridges remains a blockbuster regular in "The Fast and the Furious" films and David Bowie's movie roles are almost as iconic as his groundbreaking music (to say nothing of the joy we feel any time Tom Waits makes a cameo in basically any film ever), let's give Lady Gaga the benefit of the doubt. She may best be known as a pop star, but this time next year, we might just be referring to her as "Academy Award Winner Lady Gaga.” Why? 'Cause she did the work.