The actors can carry a scene and a tune! Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for those actors whose ability to create a character on screen is well known, but whose singing talents took us by surprise.
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00:00 "Shout hallelujah, come on get happy, get ready for the judgment day."
00:06 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those actors whose ability
00:11 to create a character on screen is well known, but whose singing talents took us by surprise.
00:16 "I've got powers too, and they're pretty sweet."
00:23 Number 30, Kate Winslet.
00:26 "And fruitly do, we both said fruitly. I'm impressed, you are a prodigy, a doodle prodigy."
00:34 Did you know that Kate Winslet won a Grammy? Though that isn't how we were made aware of
00:38 her singing talents given that the award was for her narration of a short story audiobook in 1999,
00:44 it does speak to the range she has with her voice. Her singing abilities actually came to
00:48 light a couple of years later with the release of the animated film Christmas Carol the Movie.
00:52 "What if I had never let you go?"
00:57 Winslet voices Belle, the former love of Scrooge's life who he reunites with after
01:04 he's visited by the three ghosts and becomes a kinder person. While the film flopped at the
01:08 box office, the lone bright spot was the one single released from the soundtrack,
01:12 "What If," which hit number one in multiple countries around the world.
01:16 Sung by, yep, Kate Winslet.
01:22 "If I'd stayed, if you tried, if we could only turn back time. But I guess we'll never know."
01:35 Number 29, Scarlett Johansson. Guess who had what NME named the 23rd best album of 2008?
01:42 "I've lived a lot of lies before I met you, Ross. You shouldn't have gone to all this trouble."
01:46 That's right, it was Scarlett Johansson. You may not be aware, but the talented actress is
01:51 also an accomplished singer, with two studio albums and four EPs to her name.
01:56 But even if you haven't bought or streamed her albums or singles, there's a good chance you've
02:08 heard her singing a tune or two in the movies. Remember Ash, the punk rock porcupine in Sing?
02:13 Well, that was Johansson voicing the character and belting out her tunes.
02:17 Number 28, Reese Witherspoon. In 2001, Reese Witherspoon showed us all that she could bend
02:34 and snap. But it wasn't until 2005 that we learned she could actually sing.
02:38 We are, of course, talking about Walk the Line and her Academy Award-winning performance as
02:52 June Carter. Not only was she a surprisingly good singer, she also played her own instruments in
02:57 the film. And in case anyone thought it was a fluke, Witherspoon once again showed off her
03:14 singing abilities in 2016's Sing. In this one, she voices Rosita the pig and does a great cover
03:20 of Taylor Swift's Shake It Off. Number 27, Taron Egerton.
03:31 When Taron Egerton broke onto the scene in 2014's Kingsman The Secret Service,
03:46 he showed us all that he had both comedic and action chops. However, his singing chops
03:51 wouldn't be on display for another two years until Egerton let loose singing Elton John.
03:55 But wait, didn't Rocketman come out in 2019? Yes, it did. But that was not the Elton John
04:12 singing we were talking about. Nope. As some adults and lots of kids will remember,
04:17 Egerton was the voice of Johnny the Gorilla in 2016's Sing. And in said film,
04:22 he covers Elton John's I'm Still Standing. Number 26, Amanda Seyfried.
04:32 "A heart full of love, no fear, no regret."
04:42 We don't know how many actresses are also billed as singer-songwriters in the first
04:46 sentence of their Wikipedia page, but we do know that Amanda Seyfried is one of them.
04:50 And while she and the other Mean Girls showed off their a cappella skills for a brief moment
04:54 in that classic 2004 comedy, it wasn't until Mamma Mia in 2008 that we really saw what
04:59 she could do vocally. While she doesn't think highly of her singing in 2012's Les Misérables,
05:17 we think she did quite well. And to get back to the singer-songwriter credit, Seyfried wrote and
05:22 recorded the song "Little House" that appears on the soundtrack of her 2010 film, Dear John.
05:26 Number 25, Catherine Zeta-Jones.
05:38 Prior to 2002, there wasn't really anything in Catherine Zeta-Jones' feature film work
05:50 that suggested she was a talented singer, though musical theater fans would have known she'd been
05:55 in multiple stage musicals prior to. So when she was cast as Velma Kelly in Chicago, it probably
06:00 surprised a few people, but probably not as much as it surprised us all at how good she was in her
06:05 Oscar-winning role, particularly the dancing and singing parts of it.
06:09 "Now you see me going through it, you may think there's nothing to it, but I simply cannot do it."
06:17 And we cannot talk about singing surprises in Chicago without also giving it up for Renee
06:30 Zellweger. In 2001, she surprised us with her spot-on British accent in Bridget Jones' Diary,
06:36 and the following year, it was her singing talent that had us cheering.
07:05 It comes as no surprise that Nicole Kidman's husband, four-time Grammy winner Keith Urban,
07:10 is a good singer. But Kidman herself wasn't someone who we necessarily associated with singing,
07:16 until 2001 that is. Because it was in that year that Moulin Rouge! happened,
07:20 and Kidman, along with her co-star Ewan McGregor, gave us Come What May.
07:24 "Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste, it all revolves around you."
07:36 This isn't a simple song, either. Come What May demands quite an impressive vocal range and
07:41 control, and Kidman showed she was up for the challenge. And later that year, she topped
07:46 multiple music charts around the world with her Something Stupid duet with Robbie Williams.
07:51 "And then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like I love you."
07:57 Sure, now we all know Bradley Cooper can sing, but come on. You have to admit that when you saw
08:18 A Star Is Born, you, like us, were surprised at how good he sounded. And you know who else was
08:23 surprised by it? His future co-star Lady Gaga, who let out an "Oh my gosh" the first time they
08:28 sang together. "I was blown away by him. I mean, he just, he sings from his soul, he sings from
08:33 his gut, and when he sings he's a storyteller." But as surprisingly good a singer as he is now,
08:39 that probably wasn't the case even just a couple of years before A Star Is Born,
08:43 as Cooper took voice lessons for about a year and a half prior to making that movie.
08:48 "If I could take spirits from my past and bring 'em here, no I would, no I would."
08:57 Michelle Pfeiffer might be best known to some as Batman's feline foe, but before she stepped
09:11 into the skin-tight catsuit, Pfeiffer took on her first big role in the much-maligned musical film
09:16 Grease 2. "I want a whole lot more, that's a boy next door, I want hell on wheels."
09:23 The movie flopped and mostly faded into obscurity. But that didn't stop Pfeiffer from stealing the
09:28 show with her sultry singing in 1989's The Fabulous Baker Boys. Her performance of Megan
09:34 Whoopie atop a grand piano is still held up as an iconic musical scene in the history of cinema.
09:39 "But don't forget folks, that's what you get folks, for Megan Whoopie."
09:48 And of course, that would not be her last foray into singing on film.
09:52 She showed off her impressive singing chops in both The Prince of Egypt and
09:56 Hairspray later in her career. "For the crowns and the vaults,
10:00 from when I won Miss Baltimore Cross."
10:03 Number 21. Ewan McGregor.
10:10 One thing we know about anyone who didn't expect that Ewan McGregor could sing well in Moulin Rouge
10:23 is that they likely hadn't seen the 1996 film Emma. Because it was in said Jane Austen-inspired
10:29 period film that Mr. McGregor flexed his vocal muscles for a lovely duet with Gwyneth Paltrow.
10:33 And for those who missed both Emma and Moulin Rouge, well, they got their chance to admire
10:53 McGregor's awesome singing abilities as the voice of the candelabra Lumiere in Disney's 2017 live
10:58 action version of Beauty and the Beast.
11:00 As a kid, this British actor would sit in the back of his parents' car with his brother,
11:14 playing Gavroche in a Les Miserables reenactment.
11:26 Little could he have guessed that one day he would be cast as Marius Pomercy
11:30 in Tom Hooper's stage-to-screen adaptation.
11:33 "A heart full of songs. I'm doing everything all wrong. Oh God, for shame,
11:43 I do not even know your name."
11:45 The actor attended stage school from the age of 10, but it sounds like nothing could have
11:50 quite prepared him for singing live on set for several hours a day. Apparently,
11:54 it took him 21 takes to get empty chairs at empty tables just right. Nevertheless,
11:59 he impressed us with his singing abilities, and we cannot wait to hear him sing again.
12:03 Hathaway first garnered popularity as Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries,
12:18 but we first discovered that she could sing in Ella Enchanted.
12:21 "Can anybody find me somebody to love?"
12:27 "Give 'em a little more soul!"
12:33 From Somebody to Love to Don't Go Breakin' My Heart, it was clear that this rising star had
12:38 a lot of range. She was almost cast as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera movie, too, but she
12:43 dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Still, in 2012, she wowed us as Fantine in Les Mis instead.
12:50 "So different from this hell I'm living, so different, no, from what it seems."
13:00 Interestingly, she was inspired to enter showbiz after watching her mom play Fantine on stage.
13:05 If any of her movies ever receive a musical adaptation, they know who to call.
13:10 "Take my hand, I'll lead you to salvation."
13:19 Number 18. Val Kilmer. Imagine if Batman delivered his famous line in his signature
13:25 growl before breaking into a bit of rock and roll. Well, imagine no more, because as you
13:30 might recall, Kilmer played Jim Morrison in the 1991 musical biopic The Doors.
13:36 And yes, he did all his own singing.
13:38 "Now, you get yours, baby, I'll get mine. Gonna make it, baby, if we try."
13:49 You can also hear him in the credits of True Romance and on the soundtrack of his 1984 debut
13:55 movie Top Secret.
13:56 "She knows how to love me, yes, indeed. Oh, boy, you don't know what she do to me,
14:01 to the fruity, oh, the rooty."
14:03 Despite having a lovely voice, he didn't provide the singing voice for Moses in DreamWorks' The
14:08 Prince of Egypt. It's a tragedy that Kilmer lost his voice to throat cancer, but thanks to AI
14:14 technology, the actor has been able to speak again.
14:17 "That's worth a lot of blood. That's worth a lot of blood, it's that much, too."
14:24 Number 17. Patrick Swayze. We knew he could act, we knew he could dance,
14:29 and thanks to Dirty Dancing, we learned that he could sing.
14:32 "Guess we surprised everybody." "I guess we did."
14:38 Although, if you'd seen him play Danny Zuko on Broadway, you probably weren't all that surprised.
14:43 Anyway, like the popular dance flick, his soulful vocals on She's Like the Wind
14:47 became an unexpected hit. "Her body close to me,
14:50 kept looking her eyes. She's out of my league."
15:01 It peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard chart and even went platinum.
15:06 His voice could render a room silent and leave all listeners with chills.
15:10 We only wish we had more of his music to enjoy as part of his already tremendous legacy.
15:15 "There's no fooling, she's like the wind."
15:29 Number 16. Kerry Washington. The actress has a beautiful voice,
15:33 and it's really a scandal that we don't get to hear it more often.
15:36 "Yes, girls! Do you hear this?" Other than a spot of karaoke with Jordan Sparks
15:44 and an appearance on the Disney Holiday Sing-Along in 2020,
15:47 she's managed to keep her talents relatively under wraps.
15:50 "And it's so funny, that Disney Sing-Along reminds me of so many people that I forgot
15:56 could sing, could sing. You know, and you were one of them, I was like, 'Oh, that's right,
16:01 Kerry can sing, too.'" Also in 2020, she made her official on-screen singing debut in Ryan Murphy's
16:08 Netflix adaptation of The Prom. Even though she didn't get to sing all that much as the
16:12 conservative Mrs. Green, what we do hear is pretty impressive.
16:16 "And I would never miss a night like this, unless you're my superstar."
16:26 Let's hope that she doesn't shy away from taking on more musical roles in the future.
16:30 Number 15. Emma Stone. Emma's vocal talents flew under our radars until
16:36 2016's La La Land, although this wasn't the first time she'd sung on our screens.
16:40 "I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm a mother, I'm a sinner, I'm a queen."
16:47 Anyway, from a lovely night to audition, she amazed us with her astounding versatility.
16:53 Her contributions to the movie even earned her several accolades, including a Golden Globe
16:58 and an Academy Award. Interestingly, her audition for Mia, a Hollywood hopeful,
17:03 wasn't all that conventional. "Is someone in the crowd the only thing you really see?"
17:11 The movie's director, Damien Chazelle, and composer Justin Hurwitz came to see the 2013
17:17 revival of Cabaret, where she was making her Broadway debut as Sally Bowles. Clearly,
17:22 she impressed them, and the rest, as they say, is history.
17:25 "Here's to the fools who dream, crazy as they may seem."
17:35 Number 14. Catherine O'Hara. This Canadian superstar is a woman of many talents,
17:41 and singing is most certainly one of them.
17:44 "My sweet, my dear, my darling, you're so far away from me, though an ocean of tears reminds us."
18:00 She's probably best known for her roles in the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV, Home Alone,
18:05 Beetlejuice, and as the wonderfully eccentric Moira Rose in Schitt's Creek. However,
18:10 she's no stranger to singing on screen, either.
18:13 "I warned you I was lonely, I bet you didn't seem to care, no, no, no.
18:18 I'd sugar if it do, do, but you better heed a woman's tears, woo, do, step and a shank a low."
18:26 For instance, did you know that she lends her voice to Sally and Shock in Tim Burton's The
18:30 Nightmare Before Christmas? And did you recognize her voice behind the hauntingly beautiful Sally's
18:36 song? We could never tire of her soothing voice. It's the perfect addition to this animated,
18:41 ghoulish holiday classic.
18:43 "And will he see how much he means to me? I think it's not to be."
18:55 13. Zachary Levi
18:57 Even if Chuck the Musical was just a fantasy, that didn't stop Zachary Levi from singing on
19:02 set anyway. He was known to bust out a few bars between takes and during set changes. However,
19:07 his musical chops were destined for more than just off-camera entertainment.
19:11 "At last I see the light, and it's like the fog is lifted."
19:19 In 2010, he voiced Flynn Rider in Disney's Tangled and also recorded a song with Catherine McPhee.
19:26 "I could be all that you're needing if you let me try."
19:36 Now that the world knew he could sing, Broadway was calling. After making his debut with First
19:41 Date, he received a Tony Award nomination for his performance as George Novak in She Loves Me.
19:46 "Ah, I'm tingling, such delicious tingles. I'm trembling, what the hell does that mean?
19:56 I'm freezing, that's because it's cold out, and still I'm incandescent."
20:02 12. Tom Hiddleston
20:04 "Then we'll hoist up the sail, I'm on set course for the sun,
20:08 'cause when you've got wings, no wicked deed can not be done."
20:12 If you aren't surprised by this entry, then perhaps you've watched our other video about MCU actors
20:18 who can sing. The God of Mischief actor even gave us a tune in episode 3 of Loki.
20:22 But if you really want to see the extent of his singing abilities,
20:30 check out the Hank Williams biopic I Saw the Light. It was a rather demanding role,
20:35 and for a British boy, getting into the country-western vibes could not have been easy
20:40 either. Nevertheless, he proves that he has the vocal strength to pull it off,
20:44 and that he can yodel with the best of them.
20:46 11. Chris Pine
20:59 We don't imagine that much singing takes place aboard the Starship Enterprise,
21:03 but fortunately, Captain Kirk has stopped by planet Earth on occasion to showcase his singing
21:07 abilities. And you know he's good, because Queen Barbara even asked him to feature on her album.
21:23 Even though he'd done a spot of singing here and there, his skills were a relatively well-kept
21:28 secret. That is, until he was cast as Cinderella's prince in the 2014 movie musical Into the Woods.
21:48 It was a role made for him, too. Sondheim is notoriously challenging, yet he nails it,
21:54 and brings plenty of charm and humor to the character.
21:57 10. Oscar Isaac
22:13 Long before his breaking into showbiz, Isaac was a singer and lead guitarist for a Miami-based
22:19 ska-punk band called The Blinking Underdogs. Although he would become more renowned for
22:30 his non-musical work, he didn't leave his love of music behind, either. In 2011, he played a
22:35 musician in the rom-com Ten Years, which also featured songs written and performed by him
22:40 on the soundtrack. He also left us awestruck by his performance as a down-on-his-luck folk singer
22:56 in the Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis. Look, all we're saying is that if Star Wars ever decided
23:01 to go musical, he's right there. 9. Colin Farrell
23:19 Could you imagine this Irish bad boy as a member of Boyzone? Yeah, us either.
23:24 Catching the acting bug after his unsuccessful boy band audition, he went on to have a successful
23:39 movie career instead. He starred in films like Swat and In Bruges. But we also got to see his
23:45 musical side when he was cast opposite Jeff Bridges in the 2009 drama Crazy Heart. And yes,
24:03 like Bridges, he did all of his own singing. His voice is so soulful and comforting and just makes
24:08 our hearts melt. Life must be so hard when you're that good-looking and talented. 8. Jensen Ackles
24:27 Speaking of incredibly attractive, multi-talented performers, after years of delighting fans with
24:32 his musical talents at conventions, the actor dropped his debut album as part of the band
24:37 Radio Company in 2019. Teaming up with musician Steve Carlson, Ackles proved that no genre was
24:52 out of his reach. Their song "Sounds of Someday" even appeared in a Jensen-directed episode in
24:57 Supernatural's final season. We're not sure just how we'd describe his voice exactly, but we reckon
25:15 he could sing anything and make it sound phenomenal. Supernatural may not have been a musical,
25:19 but when you have a voice like that at your disposal, you use it as much as you can. And we
25:25 hope he'll continue doing so in his future projects. 7. Joaquin Phoenix
25:41 You would think that filling Johnny Cash's ginormous shoes would be an impossible task.
25:51 But Phoenix proved he was up to the mission and even got the singer's blessing. Like his
25:56 co-star Reese Witherspoon, he provided all of his own vocals. Phoenix recalled the challenge
26:11 of channeling the singer, but if you ask us, he did not disappoint. Clearly, somebody did their
26:16 homework and went for the extra credit, too. He and Reese even learned how to play musical
26:20 instruments for their respective roles. We're not saying anyone could replace the legend that
26:24 is Johnny Cash, but Joaquin did exceptionally well, don't you think? 6. Seth MacFarlane
26:38 Fans of this Rhode Island native are very aware of his impressive arsenal of voices.
26:50 However, even when he's just being Seth MacFarlane, the man has a voice like melted butter.
26:55 It's so soft and silky, and you can totally picture him in line with those golden age crooners.
27:01 "It's easy to remember, and so hard to forget."
27:18 Indeed, he lists Frank Sinatra as his idol and was clearly inspired by him while recording his
27:26 six studio albums. MacFarlane has received five Grammy nods for his music. His song "Everybody
27:32 Needs a Best Friend" from Ted also received the Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
27:38 Seriously, is there anything he can't do? 5. Gerard Butler
27:55 Okay, let's get this out of the way first. We know that Butler's singing wasn't to everyone's taste.
28:00 But you gotta give the man some credit. He had no prior training, other than a bit of singing in an
28:11 amateur rock band, and this is the Phantom of the Opera, after all. Nevertheless, after impressing
28:16 Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber in his audition, Butler trained hard for the iconic character.
28:21 "Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind, in this darkness that you know you cannot find."
28:35 Admittedly, his Phantom was more rock than opera, but apparently,
28:39 that's what the composer was going for. Do we think we'll see Butler's Phantom on stage?
28:43 Probably not. But he still did a pretty good job, nonetheless.
28:47 4. Robert Pattinson
29:01 R. Patts has embodied some pretty well-known characters throughout his career.
29:12 However, his stunning singing voice hasn't always received the spotlight it deserves.
29:17 Not only does he have an absolutely dreamy voice,
29:20 he also writes his own music and plays guitar and piano, too.
29:24 He showcased some of his skills on the Twilight soundtrack, both as a singer and songwriter.
29:41 You can also hear him on the soundtrack for his 2008 indie dramedy How to Be.
29:45 And in 2010, he was named Hollywood's most influential top unexpected musician.
29:58 Apparently, he has considered a career in music, and we're just saying that it's never too late.
30:10 3. Hugh Laurie
30:12 At first, we knew him as one half of the comedy duo Fry and Laurie.
30:22 Then we recognized him from his titular role in the medical drama House.
30:25 Now, let's bring you up to date on his musical career, too.
30:40 Not only can he sing well, but he also plays a plethora of instruments
30:44 and is a member of a charity rock group called Band From TV.
30:48 He's also released two studio albums, consisting of classic blues music,
30:52 the first of which went double platinum. Perhaps one day he'll receive a Grammy
30:56 award to add some more variety to his already impressive collection of accolades.
31:00 2. Robert Downey Jr.
31:15 Even if you didn't know that Iron Man had a singing career,
31:17 we can think of one Avenger who definitely did.
31:19 This is a nod to the actor's 2004 debut jazz album of the same name,
31:29 as well as a voice that will make you go weak in the knees. Downey is also an accomplished
31:33 songwriter and keyboard player. He's sung on several movie soundtracks,
31:38 in addition to releasing his own music as well.
31:40 Let's not forget the time he nailed his duet with Sting, either.
31:57 Given the collective talent of the MCU stars, we're surprised there haven't yet been whispers
32:02 of an Avengers musical. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the
32:12 bell to get notified about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional
32:17 videos or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch
32:22 on notifications. 1. Jeremy Renner
32:27 Following Endgame, Renner returned to his musical roots, taking many of us by surprise.
32:32 We knew him from the MCU franchise, Mission Impossible, The Bourne Legacy,
32:46 and a couple of Oscar-nominated roles. But a musician? Well, that was brand new information.
32:51 Yet music was actually his first passion, and one he's always taken quite seriously.
32:56 In addition to playing several instruments, he's also a skilled singer-songwriter.
33:00 He's released two EPs, a single, and like his MCU co-star, has also sung on several
33:17 soundtracks for his own movies as well. The Avengers would make a great name for a band.
33:21 We're just saying.
33:23 Which of these singing celebs surprised you with their vocal talents? Let us know in the comments.
33:35 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo,
33:46 and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
33:53 Thanks for watching!