As is often the case when I’m on YouTube, when I was browsing around to find Keira Knightley’s clip for yesterday’s post, I got sidetracked watching other similar clips. She’s just one of a handful of actors who surprisingly has a pretty decent singing voice. So I decided to list 10 of them that I think are particularly noteworthy. Now, I’m not talking about actors who may have some vocal training unrelated to a film role. Emmy Rossum, for example, who played Christine in Phantom of the Opera, she blew me away with her amazing Soprano but apparently she was trained at the NY Metropolitan Opera. I’m also excluding actors who double as singers/musicians, such as Scarlett Johansson, Russell Crowe with his The Ordinary Fear of God band, Keanu Reeves with Dogstar, and others listed here. But these are contemporary actors who blew us away with their singing voice, despite any vocal training prior to their given movie roles. So here goes:
Ewan McGregor & Nicole Kidman
I was totally dazzled by both of them in Moulin Rouge, especially by McGregor’s stunning voice. If he were to record an album one day, I’d definitely be the first to buy it! He’s got such amazing control for a non-singer, even during the high notes. His voice is the reason the movie’s soundtrack remains one of my favorites!
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Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon
Not only did Joaquin and Reese have to sing all the Johnny Cash songs themselves, they also had to learn how to play the musical instruments from scratch. I thought they sounded really good together, not to mention the amazing chemistry between them. According to the movie’s trivia on IMDb, when Joaquin was learning how to sing and play guitar like Johnny Cash in the months following the start of filming, his voice was too high and the band had to learn how to play Cash’s songs in a higher key. But then just before they started filming, Joaquin’s voice dropped closer to John’s level and the band had to re-learn the songs in their original key.
I guess he is destined for a musical career after all, but I never thought in a million years it’d be rap! I certainly hope he’d come to his senses and return to the acting business.
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Gwyneth Paltrow
I actually never saw Duets, but I heard this song she did with Huey Lewis on the radio and later learned it was indeed her own voice! I thought she sounded far better than actual singers. It’s interesting that she ended up marrying a lead singer of Coldplay. Wonder if she’d ever do a duet with Chris Martin? Nah, I doubt it.
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Kevin Spacey
We know he’s a great actor, but when I saw him in Beyond the Sea, I thought he could definitely have a musical career if he wanted to. I’m sure the real Bobby Darin (pardon the misspelling earlier) would’ve been proud, though he apparently died before he reached the actor’s age at the time he played him (44). I recently learned Spacey’s a great impersonator as well. He did a bunch of impersonations (Pacino, Brando, Chris Walken, etc.) during Inside the Actor’s Studio interview, and completely nailed every single one of them.
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Gerard Butler
I’ve been listening to Andrew Llyod Webber’s music for as long as I can remember, but the second I heard Gerry sing the Music of the Night, I was done for. He may not have the best vocal chops, but there’s something about the way he sang each song that was so mesmerizing. In fact, I now prefer Gerry’s version of the Phantom songs than that of Michael Crawford’s!
He’s said in many interviews that he took vocal lessons as soon as he was considered (though not yet confirmed) for the role, and continued practicing the songs even during filming Dear Frankie. My favorite part is in the DVD deleted scene when he sang No One Would Listen.
Here’s also a clip from P.S. I Love You where he sang I Love You ‘Til The End. I don’t care what critics say about this film but I LOVE this film, and it’s one of Gerry’s best roles IMO (yes, playing a character also named Gerry no less!)
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Val Kilmer
Most people probably know Kilmer is a good singer from playing Jim Morrison in The Doors. But I first heard him sing in this WWII spy movies parody Top Secret! where he played an American rock and roll singer Nick Rivers. His comic skills and vocals are amazing, he even got the Elvis moves down pat!
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Kate Winslet
Apparently there’s few this multi-talented actress can’t do. Winslet sang this beautiful, melancholic song in Sense & Sensibility, where Col. Brandon first saw and fell in love with her. I thought she sounded really good even without a full orchestra behind her. She also sung in the musical comedy Romance & Cigarettes along with James Gandolfini.
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Johnny Depp
Though he’s been a guitar player in several bands, according to IMDb, Sweeney Todd marked the first time he’d ever publicly sung in his life. This wasn’t Depp’s first musical, but his voice was actually dubbed in Cry Baby. To prepare for Sweeney’s role, he often practiced singing the songs during filming the third Pirates movie.
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I’m sure I’m forgetting some important people here. Please do chime in if you think of other actors that belong in this list.
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
I haven’t seen this movie, but apparently Daniel Craig does some singing in the film “Infamous”. This link isn’t video, but I think you can definitely tell that it’s him. It’s nice. Not amazing, but very pleasant to listen to, I think.
Also, though I suppose he fits into your excluded category (he’s released an album), Robert Downey, Jr. has done quite a bit of singing. I don’t personally like his vocal mannerisms, but I’m sure lots of people think he’s good.
(It is my fondest wish that someday RC will do a musical. He’s got a GREAT voice and would just be awesome in the right role. Sigh.)
Oooh, what a find you’ve got here! Daniel was amazing actually, he’s got such melodious, deep voice, I’m impressed! He even lost his British accent whilst singing, is his character there supposed to be American? I haven’t seen that movie.
I remember that scene of RDJ in Heart & Soul, boy that was a long time ago.
I’m with you about Crowe doing a musical, that’s one genre his talents remain untested. But he does have a fabulous voice, I still have his Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts CD!
Yes, Craig is supposed to be American. “Infamous” was, I believe, the second film about Truman Capote (besides the one starring Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Craig’s character was a “character” (I think real person) in In Cold Blood.
…Holy cow, you actually have a TOFOG cd? I never actually bought one … the band was kinda lousy, I thought, besides the singing. 🙂
Nice post RTM! I’ve got a few more for you from the classic vaults:
1. Audrey Hepburn singing Moon River in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (this became a pop standard).
2. Gary Busey as Buddy Holly in the Buddy Holly Story: His first major role earned him a best actor nod – he sang live and played guitar as well.
3. Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter: pretty good country singing won her Best Actress in 1980.
4. Jack Black doing Legend of the Rent in School of Rock (not so classic but pretty funny).
5. Mia Farrow singing the creepy title theme to Rosemary’s Baby.
6. Charlotte Gainsbourg (she has albums out but not sure if she sang in any films).
7. Bridgett Bardot – just had to include her.
That if I only were a Goth video is pure genius!!!
James Marsden in Enchanted
Ah yes. And Marsden makes for a perfect Prince Charming. [swoon]
Diane Keaton also can sing quite well. She sang in a cameo apperance in “Radio Days.”
Diane Keaton started in musical theatre – she was in the original Broadway cast of Hair in 1968.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (‘Seinfeld,’ ‘The New Adventures of Old Christine’) has a lovely singing voice. She was really able to demonstrate it in her short-lived sitcom ‘Watching Ellie’ (her character was a lounge singer).
-B.
Anne Hathaway has a beautiful voice too.
She shows it off in Enchanted.
Anne Hathaway wasn’t in Enchanted. Amy Adams was….
It was actually Ella Enchanted. She sang Queen’s Somebody to Love and it was very lovely.
Christopher Lee
CHRISTOPHER LEE at “The Return of Captain Invincible” (1983)
and he sings with Rapsody of Fire
Besides Jack Black (who was mentioned above) there are many other comedians who can sing great:
Adam Sandler has a great rock voice though he’s done mainly comedic performances
Jim Carrey also has a rock voice
Will Ferrell who posseses a very tenor-like voice
John C. Reilly who also sounds like a tenor and got an Oscar for his performance in Chicago
It seems to me that you’ve sadly forgotten the one and only Zooey Deschanel… a great actress who sings (beautifully) in almost every movie she is in… and she is a professional singer-songwrighter, too, as one half of the great pop-folk duo She & Him, with M. Ward!
I rest my case…
The writer states he was not including actors who are also professional singers…he was including only actors who do not usually sing – hence her exclusion.
Thanks for clarifying my point, Helen. Besides, I’ve never heard of Zooey’s singing voice, though I take your word for it that she’s good. No wonder she ends up marrying a musician as well. I believe she’s married to Death Cab for Cutie’s lead singer?
I thought Greg Kinnear did a great job singing a big band version of Summertime in Stuck On You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpliHvyRhuM
Man’s definitely got charisma!
Meryl Streep was a huge shock in Postcards from the Edge, and even though Mamma Mia stunk, her singing was excellent.
I love Jeremy Northam singing in the movie, Gosford Park. 😀
I gotta rewatch this movie. LOVE Jeremy Northam… he is such an underrated actor that I wish would get more Hollywood roles.
I can agree with this as I have the soundtrack for this film at home and wished he would have done a proper album on his own.
Ewan McGregor was tolerable, but particularly good. Nicole Kidman has an incredibly weak voice. MOULIN ROUGE failed (in my opinion), for the simple reason that many of the actors were not good singers.
I don’t understand this trend in having people who can’t sing well star in musicals. I thought CHICAGO was awful because it had weak singers, as well — yet it picked up Oscars.
I just don’t understand it.
Clearly it’s subjective. Some people thought the singing in those films wasn’t up to much, others thought it was great. I come into the latter category.
I meant to say Ewan McGregor was NOT particularly good.
Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd? No way. Even with obvious digital processing, his voice is very thin.
Robert Downey Jr! He has an amazing voice! I love!
No one has mentioned Eugene Levy, who sang in “A Mighty Wind”. He coulda been a folk singer.
– Anne Hathaway may not have been in Enchanted, but she does have a lovely voice, as demonstrated in ELLA Enchanted as well as a few other movies.
– Catherine Zeta Jones has an amazing voice that she showed off in Chicago.
– In my opinion, the real “undiscovered” talent in Sweeney Todd was Alan Rickman. Johnny Depp has a nice voice, but it’s better suited for rock music or a different style of Broadway than Sondheim. Alan Rickman, however, had a gorgeous bass voice that just went on forever. It’s too bad he really only had one song.
– Meryl Streep and Colin Firth both have lovely voices, as demonstrated in Mamma Mia.
– James Marsden was FANTASTIC in Hairspray. What a voice! Give that man another musical!
-As bad as her movies are (in toto), Kate Hudson has pipes (see the ‘Woodrow’ sketch on SNL).
Check out some more movie lists from the filmgeeks at Videoport (Portland, Maine), the est movie store in the world:
http://www.videoportjones.wordpress.com
Yes, Kate Hudson is going to be in Nine, so it’ll be interesting to see how she does there. Some of the people I’m really excited about (Sophia Loren and Judi Dench singing! Yes!), some I’m either curious (Kate Hudson) or a little scared of (Penelope Cruz) hearing what they sound like, so it should be an interesting movie.
Colin, Meryl and Christine Baranski are the only three people in Mamma Mia that could sing without making dogs howl.
They reeeeeeeeeeally should have dubbed Pierce Brosnan’s voice. So painful to listen to him butcher a great ABBA song.
None of those come close to Patrick Wilson (Night Owl from Watchmen). He’s doing a duet with Emmy Rossum here, with Andrew Lloyd Webber playing piano.
I LOVE Patrick’s voice, but he’s done numerous theater roles (i.e. Oklahoma & The Full Monty) by the time he was cast as Raoul, so he definitely had more vocal training than Gerard Butler did.
I am surprised that some actors are actually better singers than actors. It seems that acting is bringing more money.
NICOLAS CAGE in Wild at Heart! He sings like Elvis!
Beverly D’Angelo: Hair, Coal Miner’s Daughter, In the Mood, and a great Simpsons episode “Colonel Homer”
Jim Sturgess in “Across The Universe”, pick a song:
Someone who has an excellent voice is Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. For those who aren’t familiar with her, she played Maid Marion in Kevin Costner’s “Robin Hood,” and she also starred in “The Color of Money” with Tom Cruise and Paul Newman.
I never knew she could sing until I watched “My Life So Far.” It prompted me to watch another movie she was in, “Limbo.”
This woman can really sing, and apparently has sung on Broadway. I don’t know if she’s had voice training, but regardless, her voice is sort of a well-kept secret.
Yeah I know who she is, best known as Maid Marion of course. Never heard her sing though. Didn’t know she has sung on Broadway, that is a well-kept secret though it shouldn’t be.
Katie Holmes THINKS she has a good singing voice as she demonstraited on The Singing Detective, SNL, Dawson’s Creek and Eli Stone…she’s wrong.
Though the Singing Detective did show that Robert Downey Jr. can carry a tune.
If Sophia Loren gets good reviews for her singing in “Nine”, I will be very surprised, because the critics raked her singing in the film version of “Man of La Mancha” over the coals. (That said, I thought the film was much better than most critics give it credit for being.)
Richard Harris is another actor whom, I think, never got enough credit for his singing. He and Vanessa Redgrave were both excellent in “Camelot”. And yes, that was really Vanessa Redgrave singing.
Regardless of Sophia’s singing, I’m psyched to see this movie!
And yes, I agree about Richard Harris & Vanessa Redgrave in Camelot. But actors in those days usually can sing + act at the same time, so it’s more surprising to see contemporary actors who can do the same.
Agree totally about Gerard Butler. His voice was so controlled and compelling in Music of the Night, he totally mastered that song for me. And then again so quiet and tender in No One Would Listen. I think it’s refreshing to see actors who aren’t trained or pro singers singing in their films. It’s not just the voice, it’s the whole performance that counts.
I’d throw Zooey Deschanel in there and Jenny Lewis, too, but both are musicians, so those points may be moot!
I also quite like Juliette Lewis — by no means does she have a great voice, but it’s an interesting one well-suited to the garage rock she and the Licks perform.
Here’s one nobody mentions: Kat Dennings!
She sang a cover of Cat Stevens’ “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” in Charlie Bartlett, and her voice is incredible!
check it out:
Sarah Michelle Gellar has surprisingly good singing voice.
I love that so many mentioned Zooey, but no one mentioned her sister Emily. Bones sang on last season’s finalle.
And I don’t know what training she’s had but I LOVED Rachel Weiss singing “I’ve got a crush on you” in Definitely Maybe.
And as much as I hated every second that she was on the show, Sarah Thompson sang Gerswhin on 7th Heaven and nailed an amazing performance. Any minute that someone besides Ruthie was singing was bliss for me- I hate that they had her sing so much on the show!!
I enjoyed listening to Neil Patrick Harris in “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.”
NPH is awesome, but he has been on Broadway, so I don’t know if he qualifies for this list.
He’s been on Broadway so that doesn’t qualify him. WTF does that mean???? That is the lamest comment.
My post is for actors with no vocal training —whether in theater work or elsewhere — prior to an acting role. So the fact that Neil has been training on Broadway ‘disqualify’ him from this particular list. That aside, I do think he has a fine singing voice, as do Nathan Fillion… I completely forgot about him when I wrote the post.
What about Rick Moranis in Little Shop of Horrors?
Meryl Streep of course!
Steve Martin in The Jerk. Pennies From Heaven. Three Amigos.
Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer in a spoofumentary that probably only a handful of people ever saw.
Mel Brooks. High Anxiety.
And on the flipside, great singers who made surprisingly bad actors, The Ramones. 😉
You mean Spinal Tap?
Trust me, more than a handful of people have seen Spinal Tap. 😀
Michael McKean has always been a good singer, even when he was using his annoying voice on Laverne and Shirley.
Steve Martin didn’t really sing in “Pennies from Heaven”. In fact, none of the actors did. They lip-synched to old 1930’s recordings.
Hmm…how about Edward Norton in Everyone Says I Love You?
Kevin McKidd and Timothy Spall in Topsy-Turvy
Jamie Foxx in Ray
Antonio Banderas in Evita
Goodness me, how can I miss Jamie Foxx in Ray! Thanks for pointing that out, yes he’s got a great voice, not to mention his amazing performance.
Most of these people are mediocre at best. The commenters are more on the nose. And Johnny Depp refused to spend one second training his voice for what is essentially an opera, saying he didn’t see the point in sitting in a room singing scales. (A lovely insult to those who to do train their voices.)
You want a star with a REAL voice? Try Gary Oldman. I know it sounds weird, and I have no idea if you could find it, but I saw him on Leno years ago, telling a story about a show he was in when he was young. He only sang a few bars, as part of the anecdote, but the audience burst into applause because the huge, rich, operatic tenor that emerged was so surprising. Awesome.
Hey, to each their own I guess, this list is simply my opinion, so there’s really no ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’ I appreciate your comment nonetheless. It’s interesting to hear about Depp’s feelings about vocal training, but regardless I thought he sounded decent in ST.
I’d love to see Gary Oldman singing. I really respect him as an actor, but it’d be a hoot to hear him belt out a tune, in operatic tenor no less! If you can find the clip, please do share.
Notlob4: Just happened to come across this post doing a search for British singers and had to reply to you when I saw your comment. I completely agree with you about Depp. He was so completely obnoxious in his Sweeney Todd interviews. Not only was he insulting to those people who do train their voices, but he (and the media and audiences that backed him) cheapened and trivialized the long and hard work of actors who perform difficult shows like this one on stage; performers who have to be heard in the rafters (with crystal clear diction) and who have to keep their vocal cords in shape so they can perform eight shows like this every week without blowing out their voices (shows run eight performances, six days per week and on two of those days they perform it twice). And they can’t rely on the tricks of the studio engineer to make it easier and to make them sound better the way Johnny Depp did.
The majority of people lowered their standards and gave him a free pass because he’s Johnny Depp. I’m not saying he’s a bad singer. But he’s been given a lot more credit than he deserves for it. I also think frankly that a lot of the “Johnny Depp did all this without any help” was complete bullsh*t to sell his “cool” image, to provide an excuse that would buffer any criticism that came his way and to push him for an Oscar. I’m so glad the Academy didn’t buy into that crap and that he didn’t win an Oscar for this role.
Meryl Streep also had operatic training, and sang very well in a number of movies.
I preferred Ewan MacGregor’s singing to Nicole Kidman’s singing in Moulin Rouge and think he had some professional training.
In Return of the King, Billy Boyd sang extremely well (and he wrote that piece too!), and both Viggo Mortensen and Liv Tyler had credible (but rather thin) voices.
Most of the actors who performed in the Buffy Musical (Once More, with Feeling) did a good job, but the songwriters wisely wrote each song to exploit each performer vocal strengths.
The “songwriters” was Joss Whedon and doesn’t everyone try to make their singers sound good? Tony Head and James Marsters were particularly good.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Maggie Gyllenhaal. I thought she was outstanding in Happy Endings.
I wanted to add Jonathon Rhys Meyers to the list. He was surprisingly good in August Rush. As much as I like his acting, if he dropped it to focus on music, that’d be alright by me.
Kevin Spacey did a disservice to the memory of the great Bobby Darin. If you think Bobby Darin “would’ve been proud” you clearly have never heard the man sing. The fact that you misspelled his name is a glaring indication. Spacey’s a decent singer, but he’s NO Bobby Darin.
Toni Colette sang “Don’t Dream It’s Over” for the closing credits of “Cosi.” It was quite lovely.
Hugh Jackman has a beautiful voice, which although somewhat showcased at the Oscars is not done complete justice due to its medely/comedic style. His singing in Oklahoma in particular was fantastic:
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZbAKYQkP_Q
Not as good as Gordon MacRae’s in the 1955 movie of “Oklahoma!”, though.
Clearly none of you have heard Ewan McGregor’s fantastic renditions of The Stooges’ “T.V. Eye” and Gimme Danger:
Vik Sahay singing ‘Mr. Roboto’ and ‘Fat-Bottomed Girls’ for CHUCK, as LESTER!
What about James Marsden? In “Hairspray,” he was one of the only members of the cast I had not heard sing in some other role before. He has since sang in “Enchanted.” I thought he was a big surprise when I heard he was cast as Corny Collins.
I would like to second the vote for James Marsden, he has an amazing voice. I was stunned and so impressed by him in Hairspray.
What about Mr. Whitaker? Or is that not surprising?
Kim Basinger. You can maybe find a clip of “Let’s Do It” from the movie “The Marrying Man” on youtube still. She’s seriously amazing, singing in a nice jazz style reminiscent of the times.
I think Hugh Grant actually has a decent voice. He sang a lot in Music and Lyrics, as well as a song in About a Boy, and his voice wasn’t bad at all.
Nice call on Gerard Butler and especially Ewan McGregor. I think Ewan’s rendition of Elton John’s ‘Your Song’ from Moulin Rouge is even better than Sir Elton’s.
I absolutely agree! Every time that song came on the radio, I always thought about Ewan’s singing. GB and Ewan should do a musical together, imagine seeing two hot Scots singing and dancing in one movie. That’d be heavenly!
Paul Sorvino – operatic quality voice
Victor Garber – Heard in Eli Stone, has done Broadway
Glenn Close – Has also done Broadway. Great voice
Nathan Fillion – Dr. Horrible
Dule Hill – another very good voice.
Hands down the best singing actress with no training is Catherine O’Hara (excuse me if I misspelled her name)
But she’s excellent in A Mighty Wind and even sounds great in Best in Show singing “God Loves a Terrier”. Plus she’s hilarious and awesome (and super fine for her age)
I think you spell her name correctly Ryan. I always think of her as Culkin’s mother in Home Alone but of course she’s way more than that. You’re not the only one raving about A Mighty Wind, must be really good 🙂
I don’t think Hugh Jackman would qualify as he started in musical theatre. I went to see him in Beauty & the Beast in 94/95, he was fantastic.
I’d like to mention the cast of Scrubs for ‘My Musical’, particularly Judy Reyes (Carla) because her voice is just beautiful.
Helena Bonham Carter for Corpse Bride / Sweeney Todd. Catherine O’Hara for Nightmare Before Christmas. Heath Ledger for Ten Things I Hate About You, it’s a guilty pleasure but I loved his singing in that film.
Richard Harris, definitely not well known for his singing, though it held him in good stead on Broadway for years (and he did indeed manage to snag the film version of “Camelot”). However, he got one heck of a consolation prize as the vocalist on one of the most (in)famous kitsch pop singles of the 1960s, “MacArthur Park.” Reviled as it’s been in subsequent decades, Harris was more than equal to the overproduction and the thing wound up selling a boatload.
Vicki Lawrence, best known as one of Carol Burnett’s long-standing sidekicks and not at all as a singer, did a nice vocal turn on another kitsch pop single, “The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia,” that also burned up the charts.
Vivki Lawrence was a singer. She joined The Carol Burnett Show at a very young age and had to grow into the comedy parts of the show. She was a singer first and a comedienne second. The comedians on the show were as surprised as anyone when she was so funny in the “Mama and Eunice” sketches.
Forest Whitaker has a beautiful tenor voice. He originally wanted to sing opera then switched to acting.
WOW, I did not know that bit of trivia about Mr. Whitaker. Thanks for letting me know. What a multi-talented guy he is, I’m impressed!
I’m a big fan of Juliette Lewis, Zooey Deschanel, and Jenny Lewis, but you know who I heard recently and really surprised me?
Scarlet Johansson
Dylan McDermott in “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” Sings The Way You Look Tonight, to Julia Roberts, and oh, my goodness! Give me a bib so I can clean up the drool!
dermot mulroney not mcdermot
I always get those two mixed up, too! I guess I’m not the only one =)
Jason Lee in “Almost Famous.” Not only could he sing well, he had an amazing stage presence.
Actually, that was not his voice.
Bummer! I always thought it was him.
Jim Carrey has a great voice. The guy can do anything with his voice/face/body. He did a rendition of “I Am The Walrus” which pales in comparison to Lennon’s acidic vocal but is still pretty damn good, it’s on YouTube. He also did a bit of “Can’t Buy Me Love” in the movie Yes Man and was very good.
I loved Audrey Hepburn’s voice in Sabrina (“La Vie Rose”) and of course “Moon River”. She was great with the softer songs that were almost just an extension of her mellifluous speaking voice, but didn’t have the training for the big songs which is why they dubbed her in My Fair Lady.
Lets not forget Felicia Day from The Guild and Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. Here she is singing on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urNyg1ftMIU In the commentary on Dr. Horrible Joss Whedon states that they had to keep reigning her in as she would get too Mariah Carey for her character if left to her own tastes.
How could you forget Rick Moranis!! He belts our Suddenly Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors… and even *I* almost fell in love with him!!
One of my favorite music groups are the Bacon Brothers which is film composer Michael Bacon and his brother Kevin of such movies as Footloose, Tremors, a Few Good Men etc etc. So far they have released Six albums including a live album.
ethan embry in pizza was a surprise
Clint Eastwood in Paint Your Wagon has a nice voice. Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson – his voice really suited the movie.
Renee Zellweger sang and danced beautifully in Chicago, she was a pleasant surprise.
All the Mighty Wind cast was excellent.
You know, I did see Paint Your Wagon and it was a hoot seeing Clint belted out a tune and playing his guitar. I wish he’d do that more often 🙂
After looking through these lists it’s amazing to see how many good actors are also pretty good singers… Hmmm… Must come from their learning how to train the speaking voice. But then actors have to have a good ear and of course know how to project the voice (especially if/when they’re on stage), so I guess it’s not so surprising after all!
Three of my favorites: Gerard Butler in Phantom, James Marsden in Hairspray, Kevin Spacey in Beyond the Sea…
What I really want to see is if Anne Hathaway can pull off the Judy Garland biopic–now that will be a challenge!
(Not sure if he’s in the excluded category either, but) I have to say Robert Downey Jr is my favorite “singing actor”. He has a huge range with a good falsetto–his voice surprises you at first, but after a few listenings it gets under your skin and into your soul. He has a smoky, passionate, jazzy style and can sell a song like he can sell a character/role. His excellent CD “The Futurist” contains 8 of his original compositions (he plays keyboards and does the background vocals as well), and he has performed duets with Sting, Elton John, Billy Joel and other top names throughout his storied career. (Great musical example: His 1997 indie film “Two Girls and a Guy” is a must-see.) I’ve been singing jazz professionally for almost 30 years and I tell you, this man has got what it takes!
You know who can definitely pull off a Judy Garland biopic? Hilary Swank! She did a brief rendition of a Judy Garland song, well she was actually mimicking her, in P.S. I love you and I thought she was rather good!
emmy rossum, because she was astounding in phantom of the opera. really surprised me.
and, maybe no-one else has noticed because they aren’t sci-fi geeks like me, but john barrowman from doctor who and its spin-off torchwood has one of the most amazing singing voices!great acting ability, dreamy looks, and he can sing and dance. what more could you ask for? he is on youtube, listmaker. check him out and then add him. please!
Yes, I completely forgot about John Barrowman. Even if people don’t know him from BBC stuff, they might recognize him in The Producers (he’s the blonde Nazi in the video). Beautiful voice.
Emmy’s trained at the NY Met, as I mentioned in the article, that’s why she’s not on the list =)
Voltaire is the artist singing “If I Only Were A Goth”.
What about Eddie Murphy? He can sing harsh like James Brown and yet soft like Michael Jackson. Just see his live stand up performances in the 80’s. He’s great!
Tino, totally agree about Eddie Murphy. He was robbed of an Oscar for his fantastic role in Dream Girls.
Thanks for your comments, folks! It’s fun just going through them and watching the various clips. Lots of surprising ones — I never would’ve guessed Christopher Lee is a good singer!
Not trying to be defensive, I knew I was missing some key people, but there are only so many I can remember when I was writing the post =)
However, James Marsden is definitely one I should’ve included. I remember really liking his voice in Enchanted, he made for a dashing, fairy-tale prince, too!
I didn’t include Amy Adams because of her musical theater background, but she certainly does have a fine singing voice!
Gary Busey in The Buddy Holly story. I just saw it for the first time today and I was blown away. I had no idea he was such a talented singer. If you haven’t seen this movie, you should. You really do fall in love with the character…. fantastic acting.
And Busey (and Don Stroud and Charlie Martin Smith) performed the music live – that was not playback. Gary Busey, of course, had been a professional musician. He plays drums on some Leon Russell recordings, for instance.
Anthony Perkins was great!
What a fun post! And soo many comments! Kate Winslet sings in a lot of her films! Plus she sang that soppy christmas song a few years ago that made the charts!
He..he.. this post was featured on IMDb hitlist, hence all the comments. Yeah, I love Winslet’s voice, boy she is so darn multi-talented!
I was really surprised by Robert Pattinsons voice. Obviously i know that he makes music somewhat and shouldn’t be classed in the “isn’t known particularly within music” category, but i wasn’t a huge fan of him to begin with but my respect grew totally after hearing one of his songs.
I’ve never heard him sing before, but I know he plays guitar right, or was it piano? In any case, I know he’s pretty musical. Thanks for your comment.
When I read the title, the first thing to come to mind was Paul Giamatti and Andre Braugher from Duets
Oh I haven’t seen that one. I should see if it’s on Youtube.
Reese sang so good in “Walk the Line” that I promptly went out after I saw it and bought a June Carter album and quickly re-realized, “Oh. Right. The real June Carter wasn’t that good a singer.”
This post also makes me re-realize how much I miss the young Val Kilmer.
Ahah, well I suppose you should just buy the soundtrack… though sometimes they don’t include the actors’ singing in the album either.
Yeah, Val was so svelte and cute wasn’t he? He’s let himself go lately.
Great post!
I knew about and agree with most of the list and learnt a something new too, who knew that Gerard Butler could sing?!?! Thanks for the heads up on that one!
I do have a suggestion for you too. Katey Sagal. She has an amazing voice and is a very talented singer too. I think the first time I heard her sing was on an old episode of ‘8 Simple Rules’ where she sang in a church choir.
Most recently however is that Katey is not just one of the cast members of ‘Sons of Anarchy’ but has featured multiple times on the show’s soundtrack and on certain episodes.
Yes I know she’s married to the show’s creator, Kurt Sutter, but this shouldnt diminish that Katey Sagal is both a talented actress and singer too.
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Robert Downey Jr!!!
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Sandra Bernhard.
Minnie Driver and Hugh Laurie should also be on this list as they do actually have albums. Evan Rachel Wood is another with Charles Sturridge as I have the film soundtrack. Judi Dench is another great one as is Patricia Routledge. I would never say Johnny Depp though he can’t sing. Hugh Grant is more a passable singer than Depp. Not a fan of Meryl’s singing but never did bother with Mama Mia. Kate Winslet can deffo sing surprised she didn’t go further with it. Charlotte Gainsbourg can sing maybe not as well as Kate but she’s pretty good. Can’t think of any others off the top of my head right now.
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