Tina Turner – ‘Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome’
In the third Mad Max film, Max Rockatansky finds himself tangled up in the politics of a post-apocalyptic community called Bartertown, which is dominated by an arena where combatants fight to the death, called “The Thunderdome.” There, he meets Auntie Entity, the town’s leader. Far from a bloodthirsty despot, she wants to bring back an enlightened society.
“For Auntie Entity, we needed someone whose vitality and intelligence would make her control over Bartertown credible,” director George Miller told Jet magazine. “She had to be a positive character rather than a conventional, evil ‘bad guy.’ We had worked on the script with [Turner] in mind. But we had no idea if she’d be interested.”
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Sting – ‘Dune’
In David Lynch’s ill-fated 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction series Dune, the eclectic director cast singer-songwriter Sting in the role of the antagonistic Feyd-Rautha of House Harkonnen, enemy of Paul Atreides. The role was just Sting’s fourth film credit.
The only reason Sting agreed to sign up for the project was because he wanted to work with Lynch, who had directed Eraserhead and The Elephant Man by this point in his career.
Flea – ‘My Own Private Idaho’
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea, AKA Michael Peter Balzary, has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows, popping up in everything from The Big Lebowski to Obi-Wan Kenobi. One of his first film appearances was in the 1991 Gus van Sant coming-of-age drama My Own Private Idaho.
In it, Flea played Budd, a friend of the main characters, street hustlers Mike (River Phoenix) and Scott (Keanu Reaves). While filming, all three actors had nightly jam sessions at their apartment in Portland.
Joey Fatone – ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’
Former NSYNC stalwart Joey Fatone showed he was much more than just a boy band member when he landed the role as the cheerful and optimistic Cousin Angelo in 2002’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding. His role in the first film was essentially comic relief.
The 2016 sequel challenged him to show his range by featuring a storyline in which Cousin Angelo comes out to his family as gay, and he delivered. He’ll be back for the third film, which wrapped filming in August 2022.
