From selling out stadiums around the globe to gracing the big screen, the transition frompop star to Hollywood film actressis no easy feat. And only a few, such asCherandJennifer Lopez, have been able to manage both careers successfully. In more recent years, two prime examples of pop superstars making the successful jump to acting areLady GagaandAriana Grande. Both of these talented women have been lauded by fans and critics alike for their music and acting abilities. In fact, their ability to connect with audiences on stage and on screen has resulted in a plethora of some of the most prestigious awards in the music and film industries. This article looks into how they transitioned into acting while remaining relevant in the music industry and what’s next for their careers.
Lady Gaga Successfully Transitioned From Singer Into Actress
Lady Gaga first made waves in the music scene in 2008 with her hit song “Just Dance”. Like all of her songs, the single was written by her and was released alongside her first studio album, “The Fame”. The four-plus-minute track was an instant hit and reached the number one position on theBillboard Hot 100 chartsin 2009, and the album would later go 6x platinum. However, long before “Just Dance” garnered her worldwide fame, Lady Gaga (real name Stephanie Germanotta) was already a seasoned musician. Born and raised in New York City, her mother cultivated her innate musical abilities early on: she enrolled in piano lessons at the age of four and later attended a music camp. Gaga would later star in school plays at her high school, which developed her love of musicals and the stage.
In a recent interview with Zane Lowe,Lady Gaga talked briefly about her early love of music,“The‘90s is how I fell in love with music as a teenager.” Fast-forward seventeen years later, and with six studio albums, seven world tours,fourteen Grammy Awards, six number-one songs, and seven number-one albums later, Lady Gaga has not only established herself as apop music iconbut also an accomplished actress.
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In the mid-2000s, she made her big-screen debut in the action thriller “Machete K*lls.” She later took on bigger roles in films such as the 2018 remake of “A Star is Born,” oppositeBradley Cooper. She was later nominated forBest Actress in a Leading Role at the Oscarsfor the same role. Two years prior, she received her first-everGolden Globe Awardfor portraying a Countess in the hit TV show “American Horror Story: Hotel”.
Lady Gaga revealed in a 2022interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live“I always wanted to be an actor. Much more than I wanted to be a singer.I just always wanted to be an actress, but I was really terrible at auditioning." Recently, Lady Gaga finished a widely applauded performance atCoachellaand is currently on her world tour. Her album “Mayhem” was released in March, and the lead single “Disease” has already peaked at number 7 on the UK singles charts. As for her next acting role, she is scheduled to make an appearance on the hit Netflix series “Wednesday”.
Ariana Grande Is Proving She’s More Than Just a Pop Star
Although Ariana Grande graced the small screen on the hit Nickelodeon show “Victorious"as the kind-natured albeit naiveCat Valentine, she achieved global fame as a singer. Her 2013 debut single"The Way” featuringMac Millerand the album “Yours Truly” earned her a top ten hit on the Billboards Hot 100 music chart and cemented her as a pop music icon. Despite her young age, her powerhouse vocals and engaging stage presence have also had her likened to legends likeMariah Carey, whom the former has often cited as her inspiration. Recently,Grande stated that she’d like to take a step back from music for a while and focus on her acting career.
The “Side to Side” singer received rave reviews for her role asGlinda in the stage-to-screen production of “Wicked”, which is based on “The Wizard of Oz”. At this year’s97th Academy Awards,Grande was nominated for Best Supporting Actressand performed a medley of tunes alongside “Wicked” co-starCynthia Erevo.In an interview with Broadway World, Grandeexplained what the role of Glinda meant to her and how she had to shed her pop star image. “I have never wanted something as badly as I did this. I worked every day with [my vocal coaches] to transform my voice. My singing voice, everything about me, I had to kind of deconstruct to prove to them that I could handle taking on this other person. I kind of had to completely erase pop star Ari.““Wicked” would go on to gross over $717 million at the global box office and become one of the highest-grossing film adaptions of a Broadway musical of all time. Grande will reprise her role in the sequel"Wicked: For Good”, which is scheduled to be released in November 2025.
