“It’s A Hit”: Top Actress/Singer Double Threats
It’s the eternal question: Can successful movie stars be equally-as-successful rock stars? Negative, ghost writer. I don’t know about you, but I blame Keanu Reeves. More specifically, I blame Dogstar, Reeves’ musical attempt at alt-rock greatness that was so horrible, it ensured the future ridicule of any actor who dared to dream of musical stardom. Regardless of how good your band is/was, actors-slash-singers would always have the weight of Johnny Utah on their shoulders.
Thankfully, in the past decade, a couple of lovely ladies from the silver-screen have managed to buck tradition by receiving both critical praise and mainstream success from their musical endeavors. Don’t believe me? Then check out the tunage from She & Him (feat. Zooey Deschanel), Rilo Kiley (feat. Jenny Lewis) and Scarlett Johansson (feat. herself and the beauteous voice of my hypothetical-boyfriend Pete Yorn). Dogstar be damned! These gals are proving that, when it comes to actors trying their hand at music, something’s gotta give.
1. ZOOEY DESCHANEL (Band: She & Him / Acting credits: All The Real Girls, Elf, (500) Days Of Summer): Zooey Deschanel is adorable in a basket-full-of-puppies kind of way. Despite how cold your heart is, her illegal levels of cuteness cannot be quelled—or denied. I, too, tried to fight my overwhelming feelings of adoration when I first saw her on the big screen in films like Almost Famous and The Good Girl, but once I heard her sweet coos with She & Him (specifically on songs like “Sentimental Heart” and “Change Is Hard”), I was officially a smitten kitten. Blast you, Zooey, and your obnoxiously catchy Cotton commercials! With a newly released album—Volume Two—and doo wop-influenced ditties like “Get Along Without You Now (Skeeter Davis)” and “In The Sun”, She & Him has truly become the fabric of my life.
2. JENNY LEWIS (Band: Rilo Kiley / Acting credits: Troop Beverly Hills, The Wizard, Foxfire): As a young tyke, did you ever have go-to movies for when you were sick? I totally did. Every time I stayed home from school with a scratchy throat, stomach bug or case of the Mondays, I would make my mom run to the video store to pick up my stock feel-better flick: Troop Beverly Hills. Honestly, I didn’t think much of Jenny Lewis at the time (other than admiring her pastel stirrup pants and gravity-defying side ponytails) but when I discovered the former child actresses’ band Rilo Kiley years later, I would have nothing but fond “Cookie Time” memories of her and the whole Wilderness Girls gang. Thanks to the band’s sunny disposition and breezy melodies (heard on songs like “The Execution Of All Things” and “The Good That Won’t Come Out”), Lewis & Co. was one of the few non-Omaha-based bands to earn a place on the Saddle Creek Records roster, which was no easy feat back in 2002. Yes, Jenny may’ve started her career as an actress, but after six albums—both with Rilo Kiley and as a solo artist—she’s proved that she’s a musician first and foremost.
3. SCARLETT JOHANSSON (Band: Solo album of Leonard Cohen covers & duet album with Pete Yorn / Acting credits: Ghost World, The Nanny Diaries, Iron Man): When I first heard that Scarlett Johansson was going to attempt a music career, I rolled my eyes so hard they almost popped right out of their sockets. I mean, isn’t it enough that she’s the face of Dolce & Gabbana, the wife of Ryan Reynolds and, basically, the most desired girl in Hollywood? Her first vocal foray was an album of mostly Tom Waits covers, which was celebrated by critics but I thought it was a bunch of hooey—mostly because I would rather listen to pebbles in a blender than Tom Waits. That said, when I heard Mrs. Reynolds was going to release a duets album with my beloved Pete Yorn, I was skeptical. In fact, I kind of wanted it to suck. Instead, once I opened my mind—and my ears—I was quickly silenced by how amazing Scarlet sounded on songs like “Relator” and “Clean.” No matter how hard I fought it, it was love at first listen. Homegirl might have dumbest-looking tattoo since Spring Break ’99, but she can serenade me any night of the week!
Wanna read more of my musings? Hoof it over to http://www.leslie-simon.com. Plus, if you’re not following me (@redpatterndress) on Twitter, what are you waiting for? I’m not scared to sic Morpheus on your tush. “Is this real?” Hell to the yeah!
