10 Musicians Who Are Actually Good Actors

David Bowie is not what you’d necessarily call a technically gifted actor. For such a flamboyant, expressive stage performer, he has a tendency to appear reserved and even wooden in his film roles, often speaking quietly through gritted teeth, looking almost startled to have a camera thrust in his face.

Sometimes, though, he is the only man for the job, and in his best screen roles he’s impossible not to watch. The role of his life was The Man Who Fell To Earth, in which Bowie stars as a crash landed alien making his way through America. It’s a natural fit for the Space Oddity singer.

He uses his incredible aura to similar effect in Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, where he plays Nikola Tesla. Bowie portrays the mercurial scientist as an aging rockstar with a few tricks left up his sleeve. His appearance is one of the film’s key set pieces.

Then there’s Labyrinth, not Bowie’s most subtle piece of work but ultimately one of the most memorable film characters of the ‘80s. As Jareth, he is off putting and beguiling at the same time - no one else could have portrayed the Goblin King.