When someone is an amazing, charismatic singer, it can be a hop, skip, and a jump to acting. Just think back to all your favorite singers who gave compelling on-stage or music video performances—you know, the ones that made you believe in the lyrics and feel like you were a part of their world? With that said, acting can be a very different animal (as some of the singers on this list learned the hard way), and singing talent doesn't always translate to acting talent. But you'll be surprised by how many of our great actors started out as singers—or who started singing and acting at roughly the same time—and went on to be our greatest movie and TV presences. Lots of these performers got their start in musicals, which require both singing and acting ability, and some made the transition to non-singing roles. Either way, the singing-to-acting pipeline has always been, and continues to be, strong.
Below, 32 times well-known singers broke into big acting projects.
