Sydney Sweeney and 5 Other A-List Actors You Didn’t Know Could Sing

You’ve watched them in superhero flicks, crime thrillers, rom-coms, teen dramas, and 1980s slashers, but we bet you didn’t know that these A-list actors could sing, too.

Singing actors (and, conversely, singers who can act) have long been a staple of the film industry. Some crossovers are easy to identify, like Meryl Streep in Into the Woods and Mamma Mia or Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman starring in the pop opera Les Miserable.

But some actors choose to keep their musical abilities, for the most part, off-screen, including these six A-list stars.

Sydney Sweeney

While audiences might readily recognize Sydney Sweeney from her work in Euphoria, The Handmaid’s Tale, or major motion pictures like Madame Web and Anyone But You, you probably didn’t know the prolific actor is actually a talented singer (and songwriter)! Sweeney has performed onstage with her Anyone But You co-star Glen Powell before, but the surprise clip of Sydney Sweeney singing what appears to be an original song on YouTube has really left fans in awe over her musical abilities.

Michael C. Hall

For Dexter fans, it can be hard to imagine Michael C. Hall in anything but his cold, calculating title role from the hit Showtime series. However, Hall got his start on Broadway in the late 1990s in a revival of Cabaret. He also played the role of Billy Flynn in a touring company’s production of Chicago and starred in the hit musical Hedwig and The Angry Inch from 2014 to 2015—all roles that require serious singing chops to pull off.

Scarlett Johansson

In addition to her starring role as Black Widow in the Avengers franchise and other iconic films like Her and Marriage Story, Scarlett Johansson is an accomplished singer-songwriter. She released her debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, in 2008, and the following year, she released a collaborative album with Pete Yorn called Break Up. Johansson started a band called The Singles in 2015, but a cease-and-desist from L.A. rock band The Singles cut the project short.

David Duchovny

David Duchovny is nothing if not a Renaissance man. He first skyrocketed to fame as brooding and obsessive Fox Mulder in The X-Files, and he later earned a Golden Globe for his role as Hank Moody in Californication. Duchovny is also a prolific author, putting his Master’s degree in English literature to good use with four novels, and frontman of his eponymous band, which has released three albums since 2015: Hell or Highwater, Every Third Thought, and Gestureland.

Zoë Kravitz

The daughter of Lenny Kravitz having musical chops might not be the most surprising, but we’d wager a bet that some folks don’t know that the Batman and Big Little Lies actor is an incredible singer and frontman of electro-pop band Lolawolf. Zoë Kravitz formed Lolawolf with drummer Jimmy Giannaopoulos in 2013, and the duo has released music as recently as 2020. Kravitz spoke about her 2020 Jack Antonoff collab with Elle, saying, “It feels vulnerable, and it’s a little scary, but making music makes me happy.”

Kevin Bacon

Award-winning actor Kevin Bacon has been making his mark on Hollywood since the late 1970s, starring in classic films like Footloose, Apollo 13, and cult-favorite slasher flick Friday the 13th. In the mid-1990s, he ventured further into the musical realm with his brother, forming a band they appropriately titled The Bacon Brothers. The duo released their seventh album in June 2018, an eponymous record that includes tracks like “Tom Petty T-Shirt” and “I Feel You.”

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