A lot of actors try to make it in music AFTER they get famous. But some dabbled in music BEFORE they found their way onscreen. That list includes the following:
1. Maya Rudolph: Remember The Rentals? They were the side project of Weezer bassist Matt Sharp. They had a hit in the ’90s with the song “Friends of P.“
And Maya went on tour with them for six months as they promoted their second album, opening for acts like Blur and Alanis Morissette. (Maya is also the daughter of singer Minnie Riperton.)
2. Chevy Chase: While attending Bard College in the late ’60s, he played drums in a band called The Leather Canary, with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker . . . who would go on to form Steely Dan.
3. Brie Larson: She released her debut album “Finally Out of P.E.” at the age of 16. Unfortunately, it only sold about 4,000 copies.
4. Character actor Stephen Tobolowsky is probably best known for playing annoying insurance agent Ned Ryerson in “Groundhog Day”. But in high school, he was in a, quote, “terrible folk rock band” called Cast of Thousands.
When they were picked to record two songs for a compilation album, one of Stephen’s band members recruited a neighborhood kid to add some guitar. That kid was Stevie Ray Vaughan.
5. Ricky Gervais: He was in a pop duo called Seona Dancing. They released two singles in 1983, but both failed.
(Check out more actors with musical roots here.)
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