Top 10 Performances by People Known for Another Profession

It takes a rather unique set of skills to enter into an arena as big as acting and prove that you have something to offer. Acting is difficult enough, but attempting to act when you’re already well known for other reasons, is, more often than not, a lose/lose situation. The 10 performances listed below are rare exceptions. Some of the actors were well known for bucking the system through rap, others were prominent athletes who never really took to the screen again – but no matter, the performances below stepped into the arena and utterly killed it.

10. David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Profession before acting: rock star

As an alien who comes to Earth in hopes of bringing water back to his planet, Thomas Jerome Newton is a man of limited needs, but impressionable desire. When he first arrives, he’s curious and naïve. But when he gains notoriety and fortune for helping propel technology, Thomas’ initial intrigue shifts to American indifference. He becomes skeptical, removed, depressed. As his alien identity becomes more public, he becomes scared and cold. In short, Thomas is a character that emotionally never stands still, and he is played by a guy who was relatively new to the screen, but immediately flexed the acting chops of a seasoned veteran. Bowie has been damn fine in a handful of movies, but never better than as that man who fell so hard, so fast.

9. Debbie Doebrainer in Bubble (2006)

Profession before acting: KFC drive-through attendant

Part of the fun of these lists is in casually stepping outside of the bounds I’ve set for myself. Did the general public know Debbie Doebrainer was a KFC employee? No, of course not. But did she deliver a naturalist, spellbinding performance in Steven Soderbergh’s “experience” Bubble? You’re damn right she did. Doebrainer’s Martha is a kind, middle-aged factory worker who enjoys secretly crushing on her much younger colleague. And when a new gal comes on the scene, Martha isn’t all too pleased by the minor disruption. That’s a rather neat description of a film that is anything but. And make no mistake, Doebrainer may not have amassed popularity on the level of others on this list, but her talent for the craft is inarguable.

8. Frank Sinatra in The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Profession before acting: musical icon

This is actually another cheat, as Sinatra had made a name for himself as an actor years prior to his starring turn in The Manchurian Candidate. From Here To Eternity won him an Oscar and The Man With the Golden Arm won him heightened acclaim, but for my money, Frank Sinatra became an acting legend while he played the tortured Cpt. Bennett Marco in The Manchurian Candidate. Brainwashed and desperate to figure out how and why, Sinatra’s depiction of the soul-stricken Marco is tight, taunt and all around masterful. That scene with the deck of cards comprised entirely of the Queen of Diamonds... that’s how you won me over, Ol’ Blue Eyes.

7. Ice Cube in Boyz n the Hood (1991)

Profession before acting: rapper

Director John Singleton tells a funny story about his futile attempts to cast Doughboy in his American crime masterpiece. He knew early on that he wanted hotheaded thug Doughboy to be played by someone who knew. Rapper Ice Cube was brought to his attention, so Cube came in, read for the part, and blew it. Thankfully, Singleton gave Cube another shot, which resulted in one of the grittiest and angriest acting debuts I’ve ever seen. Before Boyz n the Hood, most everyone knew Cube had attitude. He was mad as hell and N.W.A. proved he and his friends were not gonna take it anymore. N.W.A proved it, but Doughboy cemented it.

Late in the film, Doughboy quietly laments that people just don’t care about what’s goin’ on in the hood. No, Dough, they certainly do not.

6. Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Profession before acting: soldier

Much like Debbie Doebrainer, not a whole lot of people we aware of Harold Russell before he appeared in, and won two Academy Awards for, The Best Years of Our Lives. Thankfully for us, director William Wyler saw Russell in the Army film, Diary of a Sergeant, and had the fortitude to cast him as sailor Homer Parrish. I say thankfully because, as a real life veteran who lost both of his hands in WWII, Russell brought his own pain to Parrish, and made the character shine with sensitivity and vulnerability. There’s a scene in the film in which Parrish (or should I say, Russell) shows a potential love interest how he prepares for bed. It is, simply put, one of the most tender sequences I’ve ever witnessed.

5. Courtney Love in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)

Profession before acting: punk rocker/Mrs. Kurt Cobain

I don’t have the slightest clue how or why Miloš Forman chose to cast Courtney Love as helpless party wife, Althea Leasure in The People vs. Larry Flynt. Love was trouble. Love was never known for anything other than controversy, and surely Forman knew he would have a handful on set. And while I’m not at all sure of Love’s behavior during filming, the performance she delivered is mesmerizing. Althea is the devil on Larry Flynt’s shoulder, quietly pushing him to the extreme. But she’s also the angel, gently whispering for her husband to follow what he believes in. And as she falls deeper and deeper into substance abuse, it’s impossible to not stand in awe of Love’s dedication. Like the woman or not, she seriously delivered here.

4. Eminem in 8 Mile (2002)

Profession before acting: rapper

If there’s a theme in this list, it’s that it is dominated by people who delivered tremendous acting performances by playing versions of themselves. Or at least the public’s perception of who they are. This rings truest, perhaps, of Eminem’s performance in 8 Mile. If anything, Mr. Mathers was needlessly ridiculed by critics for playing a character that seemingly was him. (As if an actor playing a role specifically tailored for him, about him is anything new. Christ, don’t even get me started). Didn’t matter. Trying to determine how much of Jimmy Smith Jr. is in Eminem, or visa versa, is completely futile. What’s important is that, in 8 Mile, Eminem delivered an astonishing, go-for-broke performance of emotional and physical intensity. He’s brazen, heartfelt, and appropriately unhinged.

There’s a brief moment during the film’s final, miraculous rap battle scene in which Jimmy gives his nemesis, Papa Doc, a slight smirk before Jimmy kills a free style on stage. On the surface, it’s a grin of one movie character knowing he has another one beat. Look closer. That’s Eminem telling his naysayers what he tells them best.

3. Dwight Yoakam in Sling Blade (1996)

Profession before acting: country rock musician

There’s this thing I like to call “The Jessup Complex,” which is, essentially, the audience’s fear of a character from the moment you meet him (or her). I named it after Jack Nicholson’s character in A Few Good Men, but Dwight Yoakam in Sling Blade certainly fits the bill. As hard livin’, hard drinkin’ redneck, Doyle, we know from his first frame that Yoakam is playing a bad bad man. A man so rooted in his angst and superiority, that redemption will never be in sight.

I’ve seen Yoakam in a handful of interviews, and I get the sense that he is intensely shy.  If you’ve seen Sling Blade, then you know Doyle is far from timid. He’s a repulsive, lost man played by a man who was given a shot by his personal friend to flesh out some demons on screen. Well played, my friend.

2. Björk in Dancer in the Dark (2000)

Profession before acting: musician

I don’t think it’s much of a stretch for me to say that Björk is… weird. Right? There’s just something kind of off about her. In her music, in her everyday life – she’s just a swan of a different color. Lars von Trier saw that and he had the damn good sense to capitalize on Björk’s uniqueness with Dancer in the Dark. As the fatally kind, helplessly blind Selma, Björk plays a woman trying to do right, but continually caught in wrong.

Dancer in the Dark is a film hated by some, lauded by many, and forgotten by none. I’m cautious to reveal more for those unaware, but, much like the best von Trier films, once you’ve seen Dancer in the Dark (and Björk’s performance in it), you’ll never not see it again. It’ll always be there.

1. Ray Allen in He Got Game (1998)

Profession before acting: NBA player

Spike Lee has made some fantastic films that have remained hidden, but He Got Game is certainly the most criminally ignored film of his career. It’s an unflinching examination of love, loss, and the hellish nature of the father/son dynamic. There are many (many, many) reasons to marvel at this film, and Ray Allen is certainly chief among them.

Lee wanted someone who could ball. He wanted his Jesus Shuttlesworth to be played by a guy who was age-appropriate for the part, and had God-given ball skills. It was to Lee’s good fortune that he was able to find someone with natural acting skills as well.

A NBA rookie for the Milwaukee Bucks when he was cast, Allen brought a sense of angst and shame and pride to Jesus. And I have no idea where it came from. Life is hard for everyone, sure, but in my research, it doesn’t seem like Ray Allen is remotely like Jesus Shuttlesworth. Aside from their talent for basketball, the two men couldn’t be more different. I haven’t a clue what Allen was drawing on to evoke Jesus’ strife, but whatever his method, he delivered a towering, fearless performance that I’ll remember forever. He got game. You better believe it.

Honorable Mentions

Sean Combs (hip-hop producer) in Made

Mos Def (rapper) in Monster’s Ball

Dennis Farina (police officer) in Thief

Sasha Grey (porn star) in The Girlfriend Experience

Vinnie Jones (footballer) in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Anders Danielsen Lie (doctor) in Oslo, August 31^st

Haing S. Ngor (doctor) in The Killing Fields

Dolly Parton (country singer) in Nine to Five

Tony Siragusa (football player) in 25^th Hour

Justin Timberlake (N’Syncher) in The Social Network

Click here for more lists from And So it Begins...