These 11 Actors Casually Dropped Albums in a Past Life

Real entertainers can act and sing—although we, um, recommend that most of them stick to acting. 😅 Anyway, who knew that Captain Marvel’s Brie Larson released a pop-punk album in the note of Avril Lavigne?! Or that action movie hero Jackie Chan has released more than 20 albums in Hong Kong? Twenty?! *quick pause for your mind to be blown* While these actors and actresses might not be touring anytime soon, their music is…actually really good! While some of their music makes sense and fits their persona, others are totally out of left field—and we’re here for it. Here are actors and actresses (even some Academy Award winners *cough Brie*) who have dropped albums.

Scarlett Johansson released her first album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, in 2008. While reviews were mixed, some were impressed with her ~alluring~ alto voice. Scarlett later teamed up with singer Pete Yorn and recorded a collaborative album, Break Up. They teamed up again nine years later on Apart. While she hasn’t cracked mainstream radio just yet, we can respect the hustle.

In addition to acting, Michael Cera is also a bassist and singer. For a side gig, he’s pretty accomplished—his indie band The Long Goodbye toured with Passion Pit’s Mister Heavenly, and Michael self-released his debut album, True That, on Bandcamp. On the soundtrack for his movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, he collaborated with Beck. Cool, NBD.

Naomi Campbell dropped her only studio album, Baby Woman, in 1995 with a photo of herself on the album cover shaving her legs. With a music video directed by photographer and filmmaker Anton Corbijn, the single struck success in Japan.

In America, Jackie Chan is the martial arts guru in iconic movies like the Rush Hour franchise. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, he is a pop star who has released more than 20 albums. Excuse me, but, like, WHAT?! He started singing professionally in 1980 and even sang the theme songs for closing credits of his films.

You might mistake Brie Larson *the singer* for a slightly chiller Avril Lavigne and definitely not mistake her for Brie Larson *the actress* in her gut-wrenching, Oscar-winning performance in Room. The Captain Marvel actress’s debut album, Finally Out of P.E., was angsty and pop-punk. Her single She Said peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Top 100. Not bad!

Yep, Iron Man can save the world and sing! Check out his 2004 album, The Futurist, and for the superfans, near the end of Captain America: Civil War, Jeremy Renner, as Hawkeye, calls Tony Stark “the futurist.” You can also find Robert and Sting singing “Every Breath You Take” on YouTube. So there’s that!

At just 10 years old, Jennifer Love Hewitt moved to L.A. to pursue a music career, not an acting one. Things change, mmkay?! Her debut album, Love Songs, was released exclusively in Japan. Of her four studio albums, BareNaked, released in 2002, was the lucky one to break into the charts.

Long before Mark Wahlberg found himself on the big screen, he created a name for himself as a…rapper-singer. He joined his brother (who’s still a member) as one of the original members of the boy band New Kids on the Block but left the band soon after joining. He found his rapper persona Marky Mark, with the group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, releasing two albums, which included his biggest song, Good Vibrations.

Lucy Hale is a country singer at heart who just happened to find her way into acting. She released her debut album, Road Between, in 2014 but had been singing long before then. For those of you (you know who you are) who remember the American Idol spin-off American Juniors, Lucy placed in the top five at age 14.

Had no idea Billy Bob Thornton was in a band called The Boxmasters? Same. Between the band and on his own, he’s released 12 albums. His first album, Private Radio, was recorded in his home studio, which was built and formerly owned by ex–Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash. He even has a song on the album titled Angelina, obviously about his wife at the time, Angelina Jolie. Yep.

You already know about Ryan Gosling’s impressive singing skills from his Oscar-nominated role in La La Land. But you probs don’t already know that he created the rock band Dead Man’s Bones with his friend Zach Shields. Their self-titled album was released in 2009 where the guys played the instruments themselves, but the backup vocals feature L.A.’s Silverlake Conservatory Children’s Choir. Aww!