This week on Geek Girl Soup, our theme is Musicians Who Movie. (Yes, we’re verbing nouns again.) That is, musicians who got into acting. We picked two movies showcasing four musicians: “Palmer” (Apple TV+) with Justin Timberlake and “Training Day” (HBO Max) with Macy Gray, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre. 

As we discussed a couple of weeks ago with “Actors Who Music,” some artists are multi-talented and move smoothly between rock/rap stage and silver screen. All of this week’s musicians prove that. 

In “Training Day,” Macy Gray, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg do not have starring rolls, but they stand out in their roles nonetheless. True, part of why you notice them is because you already know them from their music. But their roles are meaningful, and they bring body and depth to their characters. Macy Gray in particular is a knock-out as “Sandman’s wife.” Her tone of voice, her screaming, and the looks she gives Ethan Hawke’s “Jake Hoyt” are stellar. She even helped design her character’s wardrobe. This was Macy’s first film role.

We know Justin Timberlake from his musical career, first as a lead vocalist with the 1990s “boy band” NSYNC, then as a solo artist with such hits as “SexyBack” and “Can’t Stop the Feeling.” Justin started out on “Star Search” and on “The All-Star New Mickey Mouse Club” as a child. As a musician, he has won 10 Grammys, four Primetime Emmys, nine Billboard Music Awards, and several other prestigious awards. According to Billboard, he is the best-performing male soloist in the history of the Mainstream Top 40. We see his musical-acting combo skills in the SNL Digital Shorts “Dick in a Box” and “Motherlover,” both with Andy Samberg. Justin gives a stand-out acting perform in “Palmer.” After spending 12 years in prison, Palmer returns home to live with his grandmother, who cares occasionally for Sam. Sam’s mother (played by Juno Temple of “Ted Lasso” fame) is a drug addict and frequently abandons Sam. The film strongly implies that Sam is gender fluid or a trans girl, which at first bothers Palmer. But Palmer becomes compassionate as he defends Sam against bullies—both children and adults.

We started out watching “Out of Sight” because we mistakenly thought that JLo was a musician-turned-actress. We were wrong! JLo started out as a dancer/Fly Girl on “In Living Color” in 1991. She left to pursue an acting career in 1993. She didn’t release her first studio album until 1999. We think of her more as a musician because that’s what she’s most famous for.

So, we watched a few other musician-as-actor movies: Lady Gaga in Bradley Cooper’s “A Star is Born” (HBO Max), Will Smith in “Made in America” (STARZ), and Dolly Parton in “9 to 5” (rent). While Lady Gaga has appeared in five films, she is still predominately a musician. Will Smith transitioned completely from musician to actor. And Dolly Parton has become a cultural icon who is also a producer and philanthropist. 

Next week, we’re watching “Susan’s Picks”: at least the first three episodes of “Wrecked” (HBO Max) and “Riders of Justice” (Hulu).

Check out the videos below of some of the songs we listened to.

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Follow Cort’s podcast with Brad at PureFandom.com

Check out Susan’s movie stats on Letterboxd https://letterboxd.com/barbisu/stats/

Original music by Garrett Thompson

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Geek on!

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“Nuthin’ But A G Thang” Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg

“I Try” Macy Gray

“9 to 5” Dolly Parton

“Dick in a Box” (SNL Digital Short featuring Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg)

Even though JT isn’t a lead singer on this one, he appears as an aisle clean-up guy, on keyboards, and on backup vocals. So, we present your bonus video: “Jizz in My Pants” (Lonely Planet)