We are all familiar with musicians who suddenly discovered the inner thespains the traded microphones for makeup and went the actor way. Justin Timberlake for one, and Madonna, and my personal favourite Kris Kristoferson, vampire trainer.

But some actors went the salmon way and swum against the tide to become some pretty badass musicians in their own right.

Jeff Bridges

You may know him better as the bathrobe clad the Dude ( or His Dudeness, or El Duderino, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing) from The Big Lebowski. (Or the dead eyed monstrosity from Tron Legacy, depending on what movies you’re watching). 

But if you tuned into the soundtrack of Crazy Heart (A film that won him an oscar too), you’d discover that the Dude sings pretty good. Raspy gravelly vocals with Dylanesque guitars, the songs are nothing short of amazing.

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Detractors: Shut the fuck up, Donny.

Juliette Lewis

She went on a Vampire Rampage and murdered Quentin Tarantino’s smug ass to death in From Dusk Till Dawn. That alone would put her in our good books, but she nailed it by killing some more people in Natural Born Killers.

Lewis’ career in rock has spawned two LPs under the banner of Juliette & The Licks and  while later forming The New Romantiques, credited solely as Juliette Lewis for the album Terra Incognita. 

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Zooey Deschanel

Her many credits include (500) Days Of Summer, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and being in possession of the most haunting eyes in the universe. After her unwitting on-reel duet with Will Farrell in ( the truly crappy) Elf, she broke into the music scene like a blue eyed fragmentation grenade and formed a jazz cabaret act called IF All the Stars Were Pretty Babies. 

As of 2007,  she has found her niche at She and Him with M. Ward.

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Zooey Deschanel singing intimately to a quiet piano accompaniment: Finally reality has started confirming to my fantasies. 

Johnny Depp

Now Johnny Depp has seemingly grown to a demigod in certain circles. Apart from being friends with both Keith Richards and Hunter Thompson, he seemingly also a crimefighter in disguise known only as Deppman. 

Dubious mental powers aside, He was the short lived bassist for the supergroup P ( with members from the Butthole Surfers, RCHP and Sex Pistols chipping in)

He has also opened for band like Oasis, performed with Eddie Vedder and in a momentary lapse from his usual high standards, appeared in a Avril Lavigne video.  

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He is also probably the only person outside of cartoonnetwork who has used an armadillo as a successful alibi. Jus’ Sayin’. 

Steve Martin

Inspector Jacques Clouseau appears tops this list not only because of his crazy versatility, but also because of the sheer coronary shock at discovering that he makes music at all. 
Known mainly for his standup routine, and for movies like Cheaper By the Dozen and Father of The Bride, his onscreen persona is all bumbling and oafish.

But when on the Banjo, ( which is probably the first instrument you’d imagine Steve Martin playing) he evidently becomes and unstoppable machine of sheer awesomeness. 

His debut album, In 1978:  Lets Get Small won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album, and he has won three more of them since. He has played in places like the Carnegie Hall and the New Orleans Jazzfest, thereby establishing his musical credibility on seven league high letters of flame engraved on the face of Mount Everest. 

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But he still can’t say hamburger.