The debut of Guitarricadelafuente as an actor in La bola negra, the new film by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, has once again placed on the table a relationship that has decades of great stories: musicians who decide to try their luck in front of the cameras. The singer has faced for the first time a leading role in cinema, but he is not the first to swap stages for shoots. From Rosario Flores to David Bowie, through Miguel Bosé or Dani Martín, there are many artists who have found in acting a new form of expression.
Although for some cinema has been a one-off adventure, others have developed a cinematic career that has rivaled their musical trajectory. Many of them won over critics, worked with some of the most important directors in the history of cinema, and found on the screen a way to broaden their artistic universe.
Rosario Flores and Miguel Bosé: Almodóvar’s Girls
Pedro Almodóvar has shown on numerous occasions that his distinctive cinematic universe does not understand labels or conventional trajectories. Among his most surprising bets is the inclusion of artists from the music world, such as Rosario Flores and Miguel Bosé, who found in his films an opportunity to explore their acting facet.
In Talk to Her (2002), Rosario Flores embodied Lydia, a bullfighter who suffers a severe goring. The singer shared the screen with Javier Cámara and Leonor Watling in one of the director’s most internationally acclaimed films. Her performance, marked by the vulnerability of her character, allowed audiences to discover a less-known facet of the artist, accustomed to the stages.
Almost a decade earlier, Miguel Bosé starred in Tacones lejanos (1991), where he played Judge Domínguez and his alter ego, Letal, a cabaret artist who imitates the singer Becky del Páramo, played by Marisa Paredes. A double role that allowed him to explore a stage identity very different from the one he showed as a singer and that fit with Almodóvar’s provocative and transgressive universe.
Both represent two examples of the director’s trust in artists who, although coming from music, could bring something different to their characters. A bet that also helps explain Los Javis’ decision to entrust Guitarricadelafuente with La bola negra.
Dani Martín with Bigas Luna
Although his career is tied to music, Dani Martín has also left a mark on Spanish cinema. His most remembered role is that of Yo soy la Juani (2006), Bigas Luna’s film starring Verónica Echegui, in which he plays Jonah, the boyfriend of a young woman who dreams of escaping her surroundings and making it in the world of cinema. Before this project, the singer had already appeared on television with series such as Al salir de clase, but it was his participation in Bigas Luna’s film that consolidated his acting facet. Since then, he has continued to occasionally alternate acting with his musical career.
Singers also conquer Hollywood
David Bowie was one of the musicians who knew how to translate his artistic universe to the big screen. The British icon, who revolutionized music with his ability to reinvent himself, also left a mark in cinema with such distinctive roles as The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), by Nicolas Roeg, where he played an extraterrestrial who arrives on Earth in search of water. A decade later, he inhabited the role of Jareth, the Goblin King, in Labyrinth (1986), the fantasy film directed by Jim Henson in which he shared the lead with Jennifer Connelly. Two very different works that demonstrated that his talent went far beyond music.
Poster for the Moonstruck film
Cher also managed to carve out a place in Hollywood, to the point of winning an Oscar. Although she was already an international star thanks to her musical career, it was her work as an actress that allowed her to demonstrate a new facet. In 1983 she appeared in Silkwood, alongside Meryl Streep, a performance that earned her a Golden Globe nomination. However, the definitive recognition came with Moonstruck (1987), Norman Jewison’s romantic comedy in which she shared the screen with Nicolas Cage. Her portrayal of Loretta Castorini earned her the Oscar for Best Actress.
More recently, Lady Gaga has followed that path and has shown that she can also triumph in front of the cameras. After her first roles on television, she made the jump to cinema with A Star Is Born (2018), by Bradley Cooper, in which she played Ally, a singer who begins a relationship with a celebrated musician. Her performance earned her an Oscar nomination, while the song Shallow, which she performed with Cooper, won the award for Best Original Song. Then came other projects such as House of Gucci (2021), by Ridley Scott, in which she portrayed Patrizia Reggiani, and Joker: Folie à Deux (2024). A film career that has made the artist one of the most visible figures in the connection between music and cinema.
