Over the years a number of Pop stars have felt the need to torture us with a performance on the silver screen and one or two of them have done it quite well.
So whats the best and worst performance you have seen from a pop actor ?
Last night i watched  " Alpha Dog " which as Justin Timberlake in it and i think his acting is much better than his singing he gave quite a good performance as the rich kid gangster, in a very gripping film which also stars Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone .
My Favorite performance by a pop actor is David Bowie in  " The Man Who Fell To Earth " from 1976 ,Bowie is brilliant playing an Alien stranded on earth .
The worst ive seen is Madonna in  " Swept Away " it's a real Turkey of a film directed by her hubby Guy Richie in fact it's one of the worst films ive ever seen  

justin timberlake has surprised me

and i tend to enjoy rappers in movies more than i enjoy there music, be it ice cube,snoop dog or even eminems movie.

hate gangster rap but like gangster movies.

bowie in the labyrinth

billie piper in Dr Who (not a movie but good acting)

mark walbergh turned out to be a decent actor after being a poor pop star

I know he's old old school, but Der Bingle, Bing Crosby, was a very important vocalist and fine actor.  Also, Frank Sinatra made several fine movies (and those rat pack things that have their charm).  Dean Martin proved himself a fine actor in Rio Bravo and The Young Lions--and he could sing pretty darn good (even with Jerry Lewis acting like a knucklehead).  

Of the current crop, I'd say Wahlberg has made the best transition into a real actor.  And Will Smith, who made a sorta Dean Martinish transition from singer (er, rapper) to actor.  Levon Helm is a fine actor.  Roger Daltry is passable.  Tom Waits has made some good movies like Down by Law.  

Failed singer movie-stars include: Dylan (double ugh!), Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson (who can kinda act and kinda sing, but is/was a great songwriter), Neil Diamond, Glen Campbell, Sting (in just about anything), Mick Jagger (kinda good in Performance but horrible in everything else), Paul Simon (ugh!), Bowie (not bad in Cat People, but bad in about everything else).  Dwight Yoakum was excellent as an a**hole in Sling Blade (but apparently he's a "real nice guy" in "real life.")  Jimmy Cliff was great in The Harder They Come.  

Maybe the toughest call is Elvis, who made a handful (fingerful) of great movies and then absolute crap (not that his "acting" was necessarily the worst part of the films).  And then there's Cher, who has made a couple of great movies (Silkwood, Moonstruck, etc.), but alot of crap too.  

Burl Ives was good as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and as the Snowman in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  

Great post Adamzero agree with you with regard to Crosby and Sinatra both were fine actors . And yes among the dross Elvis made a few good films.
Cher i think proved she could act i also like her in  " Mask " other glamour  pusses who have turned in good performances are Diana Ross in the Billie Holiday bio-pic  " Lady Sings The Blues " and Debbie Harry in  " Videodrome " .
Sting is as wooden at acting as he is at singing have just never liked him full stop . I think Bowie is a passable actor although i think he has to be careful with the roles he takes  " Just A Gigolo " and  " Basquiet " are bad the later where he played Andy Warhol was very bad . But he was good in  " Prestige " and i like his camp goblin King in  " Labyrinth " and also his performance in  " Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence " is good i think.

I thought David Bowie was pretty good in The Last Temptation of Christ.
He did a really good part playing Pilot.

Still never sure on John Lennon's performance in How I Won The War.

Agree he was good as Pilot Andy.

Quoted from Andy Smith

Still never sure on John Lennon's performance in How I Won The War.

He was OK I suppose. A competent amateur in a silly, non demanding role. Ringo was no better, even though it's often said that he was the best actor of the group.

Tom Waits is excellent in 'Down By Law'.

I thought Ringo was very wooden in Magic Christian.

Quoted from Kevin

I thought Ringo was very wooden in Magic Christian.

He's not very good at all. None of them were. I suppose that it had become popular for pop stars to be in a movie (Elvis started in '56), so it was a case of 'Who is the best actor', rather than 'Who is the least awful'!

Quoted from Andy Smith

I thought David Bowie was pretty good in The Last Temptation of Christ.
He did a really good part playing Pilot.

I love Bowie in Labirynth!!   I love David Bowie anyway, too bad he plays in those crazy films most of the time.

Think it's really difficulte for singer's to pull off the acting job as there personas as pop stars get in the way ?
All the Beatles i think have just played themselves ,only George comes across as having any natural acting talent and even then he's more of an extra  
Bowie works in some films for me as he seems to understand the characters he plays , plus i think his early mime training helps him?

Jared Leto went from acting to music. He's the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and songwriter of the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars.