Here’s a great thing that happens. You find out that an actress or actor you love can actually do something else like write or sing. And then you find out that they can actually do that thing WELL, like you really actually like LIKE THEIR SONGS, and now you have DOUBLED the ways you can love this person and all is good with the world.
This happened to me last week when I saw Lena Dunham perform a “cover” of Sia’s “Chandelier” on the Late Show. Lena didn’t actually sing, she transformed the song into an interpretive dance while the singer Sia lay flat on her belly. (as a side tangent, I fell in love with Sia when I first heard her stunning song, “Breathe Me” on Six Feet Under’s series finale. The song was so beautiful, so dark, it just stuck with me in every emotional moment in life that followed.)
The Late Show performance showed me a new side of Lena, that she has real creative range and it made me happy to see. This got me thinking: So many amazing actors have ventured into music, and have totally blown us away with their talent. Here are 14 who’ve made the transition to singers seamlessly and even with aplomb.