There are only five bands I need to see live in order to die happy: Radiohead, Wilco, Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo and the Bacon Brothers.
The last one may seem out of place, but the minute I saw Kevin Bacon playing quasi-country music with his brother on VH1, I knew that there couldn’t be anything more entertaining. As much as I respect him for his acting career, from that night on, Kevin Bacon existed only as a joke to me. The only thing that could be funnier than seeing him play on television would be to see him live.
The actor-musician crossover (and vice versa) is actually one of the more consistently entertaining aspects of both the film and music industries, if only to get people wondering, “Can Diddy actually act?”, or betting on how often vocal-pitch shifting software would be used when Lindsay Lohan began recording her first album.
I’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t laugh when I tell them that Russell Crowe, Academy Award-winning actor, was in a band called 30-Odd Foot of Grunts for almost 13 years. An incredible fact, given that the average band calls it quits in half that time and has a name enormously less ridiculous.
But thankfully, not all the crossovers are entertaining because of their ridiculousness. When an actor or musician tries his hand at another medium, the result can be both moving and memorable.
Before becoming the lead singer of TV on the Radio, Tunde Adebimpe was best known for his lead role in an indie movie called “Jump Tomorrow.” His transition was obviously very successful, but for fans of his music who revisited his several film appearances, seeing his awkward, quirky approach to acting was endearing.
The gorgeous Charlotte Gainsbourg (daughter of pop auteur Serge Gainsbourg), who we saw most recently play the role of Stéphanie in “The Science of Sleep,” has, during her film career, released two albums to some degree of critical acclaim. I think it’s safe to say that there’s nothing more charming than hearing a French actress sing beautifully in her native language.
And there is, of course, Will Smith, who has come a long way from late-’80s hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince to be one of Hollywood’s most recognizable actors and, as we recently saw, one capable of playing more than just a cheeky Bel-Air rebel with a cause.
Part of the draw of these actor-musician crossovers is obviously their celebrity status. In America we tend to idolize those in the spotlight. Following them loyally into a new venture can be a new, exciting way of living vicariously through them.
But I think a bigger draw is their dramatic potential. Many of the same aesthetics are at work in film and music: They are both meant to elicit certain emotional responses from the audience, are considered forms of art, seek to tell some sort of story, and sometimes approach everyday life with a totally new perspective.
It’s almost obvious: If Jared Leto can make an audience want to cry in “Requiem for a Dream,” shouldn’t he be able to do something similar as the singer of 30 Seconds to Mars? If Snoop Dogg can make us want to be gangstas on an album, shouldn’t he have the same effect in “Starsky and Hutch?”
The answer may not always be yes, but finding out is half the experience. I’ve wasted a lot of time watching terrible movies and listening to some awful music, but every minute I’ve spent watching a musician try to act, or an actor try to sing, I feel like it’s time well spent.
Don’t believe me? Rent Jim Jarmsuch’s “Coffee and Cigarettes” and watch RZA and GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan hang out with Bill Murray. That, my friends, is entertainment.
Duhamel thinks Keanu Reeves should’ve just called his band “Wyld Stallyns” instead of “Dogstar.” E-mail him at dduhamel@media.ucla.edu.