Disqualified!

Until the moment I put the finishing touches on this post I had no idea that actor Jeff Bridges had recorded an album of music. He seems to be a shoo-in to win the Oscar for Best Actor this Sunday night, but as a result of having released an album of his musical performances other than whatever he performs in his recent film, Crazy Heart, he is disqualified from this Battle Royale.

Specifically I'm asking that we determine the best portrayal of a musician (including actual musical performances) by a typically non-musician actor.

The actor needs to be portraying a musician; he or she cannot simply break out into song as a teenage greaser in a musical set at Rydell High. Beside, John Travolta, like Jeff Bridges, would also be disqualified for having released his own albums.

John Travolta, "Razzamatazz"

John Travolta, "Easy Evil"

Furthermore the actor needs to actually perform music in the film. Despite having seen the film about a half dozen times, I'm not sure if I know whether Justine Bateman or Julia Roberts actually played and/or sang in Satisfaction. Please research this issue before nominating either one of them. Same goes for Mary Stuart Masterson in Some Kind of Wonderful and countless other actors who were so convincing that it's hard to tell if they could really play.

A few more contenders before I ask you to put on your thinking caps and hash this out...

Follow up:

Man, have you ever seen Rebecca De Mornay strut around with a headless bass and sing dimestore Pat Benetar in the remake of And God Created Woman? Craptastic - and the singing may be authentic!

Didn't Val Kilmer actually sing in The Doors? If he hasn't released an album of music other than his work on that film's soundtrack (and any other movie soundtracks on which he might have appeared), he would count.

Although she sang painfully, Jennifer Jason Leigh merits consideration for her performances in Georgia.

Have you ever seen What We Do Is Secret, a small rock biopic about a Darby Crash and The Germs? I stumbled across it on cable late one night, and it was very good. It gave me no more appreciation for the music of The Germs, but it was well acted, felt more authentic than most Hollywood movies about rock 'n roll, and it gave me a feel for that band's humanity and aspirations. The guy who played Crash, Shane West, is really good at sucking as a hardcore singer who really wants to be David Bowie.

Robert Duvall always gets the six-pack from me, and his work in Tender Mercies can't be beat. However, he doesn't perform a whole lot of music in the film relative to the intense performances by some of our other challengers.

I don't know whether the Twilight women playing Joan Jett in that movie coming out on The Runaways actually sings or not in that film, but she does sing and play guitar, I believe, in Into the Wild. Kristen Stewart - that's her name. She counts.

You get the idea, right? Let's put our thinking caps on, consider all worthy suggestions, and determine, perhaps once and for all, the best portrayal of a musician (including actual musical performances) by a typically non-musician actor.