Top 10 Times Actors Had to Learn to Sing for a Role

Now we all knew that Meryl Streep had the chops to pull off ABBA – as she so clearly showed us in “Mamma Mia!” But opera is a whole other ball game. And bad opera? Well that’s just plain difficult. But that’s exactly what Streep had to learn to do to portray Florence Foster Jenkins. Jenkins was a New York socialite who loved singing, but wasn’t all that good at it. In order to get the right delivery, Streep worked with a voice coach and learned how to sing opera like a well-meaning, but poorly pitched heiress might. Needless to say, she did a masterful job.

It turns out it’s hard to get that country twang just right. Jeff Bridges won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Otis “Bad” Blake, a washed-up country singer, in “Crazy Heart.” He was apparently no stranger to music, but he did work with veteran vocal coach Roger Love to make sure his performance would be just right. According to Love – who apparently likes to host his classes over the phone – Bridges already had a good foundation for singing. But vocal exercises helped shore up his power and range, and the result was an award-winning performance for the books.

It’s hard to bring an icon like Hank Williams to life, but we think Tom Hiddleston did a pretty good job in 2015’s “I See the Light.” This might seem like an odd casting choice, given that Hiddleston is a Brit, and Williams was …decidedly not. But the actor spent months preparing with another country legend, Rodney Crowell, as his singing coach to nail Hank’s signature southern vocals. Speaking to Vanity Fair, Hiddleston recalled how “scary” it was to have to learn how to yodel. And while the film itself wasn’t a huge success, the work Hiddleston put into honing his vocals and playing the part is commendable.

If there’s one thing we know about Tom Cruise, it’s that he doesn’t do anything halfway. So it should come as no surprise that the guy who jumps out of planes in his movies went all out when it was time to be a rockstar. For his role in “Rock of Ages,” Cruise reportedly trained for five hours a day for months to nail his character Stacee Jaxx’s sound. Well, listening to him jam out on songs like “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Wanted Dead or Alive,” we think he pretty much nailed it.

Remember vocal coach Roger Love? Well, Jeff Bridges isn’t the only superstar he’s helped when it comes to perfecting the country sound. In 2005’s “Walk the Line,” both Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix took vocal lessons to try and sound just like June Carter and Johnny Cash. Phoenix sounds great, but we’re mesmerized at how closely Witherspoon emulates Carter. Love was called in late in the game, and was given approximately three weeks to prepare the stars for the studio. Still, they pulled it off. Witherspoon sung her way into an Academy Award, so clearly it all worked out for the best.

We’ve known that Renée Zellweger has mad singing chops ever since she blew us all away in “Chicago.” But it’s one thing to be a good singer – it’s a whole other thing to emulate one of the best vocalists ever. In 2019, Zellweger took to the big screen as Judy Garland and was rewarded with an Oscar. She worked with veteran vocal coach Gary Catona to strengthen her voice and capture Garland’s signature warbling style. But the actress didn’t want to simply copy the legendary singer. As Catona explained in an interview with Variety, she aimed to “[bring] something of her own alchemy to it.” Well, we think she nailed it.

You would think Helena Bonham Carter wouldn’t have had a hard time convincing her then-partner, Tim Burton, to cast her in a movie. After all, her talent is undeniable. Well, according to Carter, she had to prove herself and undergo the standard audition procedure in order to be cast as Mrs. Lovett in 2007’s “Sweeney Todd” movie. But she also took singing lessons to learn the technique and prove that she had the chops to pull off the notoriously difficult music of Stephen Sondheim. Listening to her in the movie, you can tell the training paid off, with her amazing work speaking for itself.

Emily Blunt’s vocals in “Into the Woods” are strikingly strong and clear. It definitely doesn’t sound like she had such a hard time preparing for the role, or that she ever considered not auditioning at all. But alas, things are not as simple as they appear. According to Blunt, most of her singing prior to auditioning for the movie primarily took place “in the shower.” Thus, she underwent grueling months of singing lessons to be able to nail the part as well as she did. It may have been a “steep learning curve,” as the actress puts it, but you can’t deny the talent you see and hear on screen.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call committing to the bit. When working on 2018’s “A Star is Born,” Bradley Cooper put himself through the ringer to make sure his singing was up to snuff. Cooper took months of singing lessons to nail down the deep, smoky southern sound of Jackson Maine. And get this, his vocal coach was none other than Roger Love. He also also took piano and guitar lessons in order to keep everything authentic. That might sound like a lot of work, but you have to remember – he was going to be singing with Lady Gaga. We would take ourselves pretty seriously in his shoes too.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Sissy Spacek, “Coal Miner's Daughter” (1980)
She Studied Hard to Get the Loretta Lynn Twang Down

Audrey Hepburn, “My Fair Lady” (1964)
Sometimes You Put the Work in & Marni Nixon Still Dubs You

Before 2021, we all saw Garfield as a super talented actor. But no one thought of him as a singer. Still, “Tick, Tick... Boom!” director Lin-Manuel Miranda could see him playing “Rent” creator Jonathan Larson in a musical after watching him in “Angels in America.” But he didn’t know if he could sing. Now, the two share a mutual contact, Greg Miele, who lied and assured Miranda that Garfield was a wonderful singer, setting things in motion. The actor ultimately got the part, and engaged in vocal lessons for a full year. All that hard work more than paid off, as he earned luminous praise for his stellar performance.