Once upon a headline, some of Hollywood’s biggest names looked at their faces on the big screen, shrugged, and said: “You know what? I’d rather melt faces.” Because why settle for scripts when you can shred guitars?
From leading men who swapped red carpets for roadies, to movie queens who found their true calling under stage lights, these are the stars who traded cue marks for chord charts and actually pulled it off (well, some of them did). This is about midlife encores and about chasing that teenage dream hiding behind the trailer door.
So grab your leather jacket, dust off that old vinyl, and crank the nostalgia to eleven. Because these actors played rock stars… and then became them.
1
JARED LETO
From Oscar speeches to outer space anthems, Jared started a band and launched a cult with guitars.
2
SCARLETT JOHANSSON
Scarlett teamed up with Pete Yorn to give the world a sound somewhere between heartbreak and a French cigarette.
3
TAYLOR MOMSEN
Cindy Lou Who grew up, grabbed a mic, and started The Pretty Reckless; a thunderstorm in fishnets.
4
BILLY BOB THORNTON
The Boxmasters are all dusty highways, heartbreak, and barroom blues.
5
JOHNNY FLYNN
While you were swooning over him in Emma, he was writing songs that sound like campfires and heartbreak. A folk-rock poet who’d rather strum than strut.
6
DAVID DUCHOVNY
Mulder picked up a guitar and started singing his diary. Moody, thoughtful, surprisingly poetic.
7
ZOOEY DESCHANEL
Straight out of a Wes Anderson daydream, Zooey’s She & Him makes music that smells like Polaroids and old record stores. Twee never sounded this good.
8
JASON SCHWARTZMAN
Before he was stealing scenes, he was drumming for Phantom Planet. You know “California”? Yeah, that was him. Then he went solo as Coconut Records.
9
JOHNNY DEPP
Rum-soaked eyeliner and a Les Paul. Hollywood’s favorite outlaw joined Hollywood Vampires to prove he's a rock star.
10
RYAN GOSLING
Mr. “Hey Girl” went full ghost story with Dead Man’s Bones, a band that sounds like a funeral you actually want to attend.
11
JULIETTE LEWIS
Juliette and the Licks = pure, beautiful chaos.
12
KEVIN BACON
The Bacon Brothers make music that’s got more heart than Hollywood and more groove than your dad’s vinyl shelf.
13
RUSSELL CROWE
From 30 Odd Foot of Grunts to Indoor Garden Party, Russell’s still fighting, this time with power chords instead of swords.
14
KEANU REEVES
Dogstar sounds exactly like his soul: chill, mysterious, and somehow still cooler than you.
15
JACK BLACK
If rock ‘n’ roll had a cartoon mascot, it’d be Jack Black in sweatpants. Loud, proud, and powered entirely by nachos and pure chaos. Tenacious D is his band.
