Bowie, Jagger, Whitney Houston, the cast of the Blues Brothers?,

Few can hold a candle to Elton John and Roger Daltrey

Except maybe Keith Moon and Tina Turner

Musicians singing in a musical production shouldn’t be the metric for “film star” since films are about acting, and even if you consider musical numbers as acting, it doesn’t address the range of acting.

Cher, Barbra Streisand, Bing Cosby and Frank Sinatra (and more) won academy awards for acting

For “film star” you might also consider how many films they made and how big their roles were.

Tina Turner was in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome".

If by pop icon you mean just musical icons, then I'd say Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez are two prominent examples of jumping from concert stage to screen. Gaga is okay as an actress, but Lopez is to me more of a standout. I also liked Bowie as Tesla in The Prestige, awa TMWFTE.

There's also Awkwafina, in Crazy Rich Asians, who was a pop rapper. Possibly best known for a song titled "My Vag." Yes, that's what it sounds like. It is a song about her lady parts. Quite graphic. I think it's satirical.

Idris Elba, now a big screen star, was a popular London DJ. Solid actor, never seen him phone it in.

Oh, and can't leave Mandy Patinkin off the list. Stellar musical vocalist (Evita, for one) and solid screen (both tv and film) actor.

Madonna? Meh. So overhyped, I'm leaving her off my list.

2 hours ago, TheVat said:

If by pop icon you mean just musical icons, then I'd say Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez are two prominent examples of jumping from concert stage to screen. Gaga is okay as an actress, but Lopez is to me more of a standout. I also liked Bowie as Tesla in The Prestige, awa TMWFTE.

Yes, though I wasn't necessarily limiting the discussion to just acting skills. Some degree of stage presence is quite enough for, say, the 'Fast & Furious' franchise. Agree with Bowie (obviously) and Jennifer Lopez. Just not familiar with Lady Gaga and Mandy Patinkin. Quite like Beyonce in... actually I just quite like Beyonce 😏

Rap Music isn't really my thing so I'd quite overlooked Idris Elba - that man definitely has serious acting chops. Guess that means the likes of Ice Cube and Tupac Shakur deserve consideration.

Aretha Franklin too. I thought she was superb in the Blues Brothers. Blew everyone else off stage.

6 hours ago, sethoflagos said:

Just not familiar with Lady Gaga and Mandy Patinkin. Quite like Beyonce in... actually I just quite like Beyonce 😏

Rap Music isn't really my thing so I'd quite overlooked Idris..

Gaga not my thing (nor is rap, but it's somewhat inescapable if one raised millennial kids in the US), but popular for her stage theatrics I gather. I liked Beyonce in Cadillac Records. (it is my understanding that she is bootylicious) Patinkin is probably better known to those who followed Broadway productions, e.g. his perf as Che Guevara in Evita or George Seurat in...that Seurat musical. He was Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride, if that means anything. And starred in various popular tv series, like "Homeland."

*(Sunday in the Park with George)(Once I visualized his most famous painting, the title came to me)

It definitely depends on what you mean by pop icon. If you think of the tent as “entertainers” then singing and acting are just two parts of it, so having successful singers being successful as actors shouldn’t be a surprise, even beyond films merely used as vehicles to promote music (e.g. The Beatles, Elvis, back in the day)

But if you also include comedians, Robin Williams did some fine acting in non-comedic roles.

Not easy to do, either. Once you're seen as funny, it can be really hard to transition to serious dramatic roles. Bill Murray tried and failed in The Razor's Edge.* Steve Martin was fairly successful in some darker roles. Most of the famous SNL alums tended to stay with comedy AFAICT.

* My partner and I witnessed this debacle in a crowded movie theater. Everytime Murray would raise his eyebrows or, really, react in any ironic way to another character, titters would run through the audience. (And often, us) If Somerset Maugham had written offbeat wisecracking comedies, there might have been some scope for Murray's considerable talents.

Sometimes musical 'icons' get raves for mediocre acting performances simply because they are 'icons'.
Does anyone think Taylor Swift wouldn't be huge as an actress if she decided to try it ?

I would agree with Swansont about Sinatra, Crosby and Streisand, but would add Dean Martin who was also a master comedian.
And also agreeing with Swansont on comics, like R Williams, who was fantastic in Good Will Hunting.

Will Smith seems like an obvious choice having become a mega star after starting as a small rapper. More recently I’d say Ariana Grande for her roll as Glinda in Wicked, but that one is questionable given it’s still sort of a musical. But she did great in the role.

David Bowie appeared in some 30 feature films which included major acting roles in:

“The Man Who Fell To Earth” (d. Nicolas Roeg 1976)

“The Hunger” (d. Tony Scott 1983)

“Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” (d. Nagisa Oshima 1983)

“Absolute Beginners” (d. Julien Temple 1986)

“Labyrinth” (d. Jim Henson 1986)

“The Last Temptation of Christ” (d. Martin Scorsese 1988)

He also played memorable cameo roles in numerous other films including:

“Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” (d. David Lynch 1992) —> as agent Philip Jeffries

“Basquiat” (d. Julian Schnabel 1996)  —> as Andy Warhol

“Prestige” (d. Christopher Nolan 2006) —> as Nicolas Tesla

As well as voicing characters in a video game “Omikron: The Naked Soul” (1999), and in  Luc Besson’s animated film “Arthur and The Invisibles” (2006) amongst others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie_filmography

8 hours ago, MigL said:

Sometimes musical 'icons' get raves for mediocre acting performances simply because they are 'icons'.
Does anyone think Taylor Swift wouldn't be huge as an actress if she decided to try it ?

I would agree with Swansont about Sinatra, Crosby and Streisand, but would add Dean Martin who was also a master comedian.
And also agreeing with Swansont on comics, like R Williams, who was fantastic in Good Will Hunting.

Yeah, that’s my point about looking at them as entertainers rather than a single subcategory. If you have stage presence you’re a leg up on succeeding in other performance activities. There’s common skills like stage movement and choreography, memorizing lines, and putting different emotions behind your performance. If you’re marginal at those skills you probably don’t do good live singing performances though you might still be successful in the studio.

As far as comedy goes, it seems easier to transition from comedy to serious acting than in the other direction.