Rihanna in Battleship

Rihanna in Battleship

This week Rihanna becomes one of a whole host of singers who have made the transition onto the big screen.

Yes the actress makes her debut in big budget blockbuster Battleship, which is directed by Peter Berg and also stars Taylor Kitsch and Liam Neeson.

So we took a look at some of the singing stars who have made a very successful leap into the world of movies.

- Will Smith

Will Smith is one of the biggest box office draws, having eight consecutive movies that grossed in excess of $100 million at the U.S. box office.

But Smith kicked off his career in music and as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince he enjoyed a lot of success.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air saw him really step into acting and it wasn't long before Hollywood movies came calling.

And it was to be Roland Emmerich's blockbuster Independence Day that was to be the movie that was the real breakthrough for Smith.

While he has big budget movies like Men In Black and I Am Legend under his best projects such as Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness cemented him with the Academy as he picked up Best Actor nods for both roles.

He will be back this summer with Men In Black III, the first outing for the franchise in a decade.

- Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra my be best known for My Way and all of than but he also has an Oscar win under his belt.

As well as being a music icon Sinatra also forged a very successful acting career that lasted forty years.

He kicked it off with Higher and Higher back in 1944 but it is for the likes of From Here To Eternity, for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and The Manchurian Candidate, High Society and Ocean's Eleven for which he is best known.

- Cher

Cher kicked off her career back in the sixties with Sonny with I Got You Babe and all that jazz but it wasn't until the eighties when she stepped into movies.

And here she has enjoyed enormous success with roles in the likes of The Witches of Eastwick and Tea with Mussolini.

But it was 1983 when she was recognised by the Academy for the very first time when she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Silkwood - picking up the Golden Globe.

She got her hands on an Oscar four years later when she starred alongside Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck.

Cher returned to the big screen last year with Burlesque and lent her voice to Zookeeper earlier this year.

- Barbara Streisand

Another Oscar winning singer is Barbara Streisand who also juggled a very successful music and film career.

She kicked off her acting career in 1968 with a remake of Broadway smash Funny Girl - it proved to be a great move for her as picked up a Best Actress Oscar for her performance.

She enjoyed more success with Hello Dolly and On A Clear You Can See Forever and she picked up another Oscar nomination for her role in The Way We Were.

Streisand would pick up a second Oscar but this time it was for Best Original Song for Evergreen from A Star Is Born.

- Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson made her name as a contestant on American Idol and while she did not win the show she has had the most success.

While Hudson has continued her music career movies came calling and she was wanted for the role of Effie in Dreamgirls.

Her vocals were a force to be reckoned with in the movie and she stole the show - for it she was rewarded with a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

She has worked steadily over the years in the likes of Winnie, The Secret Life of Bees and Sex and the City.

But this year she will be turning her hand to comedy with a role in a remake of The Three Stooges.

- Jamie Foxx

While Jamie Foxx  is a musician he kicked off his career in stand up comedy before moving into music and acting.

And when you have a Best Actor Oscar under your belt you know that you are doing something right.

His star rocketed back in 2004 when he took on the role of Ray Charles in the biopic movie about the singer. He embodied the part heart and soul and for that he won his Oscar.

Since then he has mixed and matched his roles moving from the like of Collateral to Jarhead, The Soloist to Horrible Bosses.

He will be back at the end of the year in Quentin Tarantino's new movie Django Unchained.

Other singers who have enjoyed success on the big screen include Justin Timberlake with the Shrek franchise and The Social Network while Beyonce starred in Dreamgirls.

Queen Latifah had enjoyed success in the Ice Age franchise as well as Chicago while old crooner Bing Crosby also had a very good movie career.

Battleship is out now

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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