You forgot the Bob Dylan movie "Masked and Anonymous." ;)

But, then most people try and forget it after seeing it.

Gene Simmons in Runaway. It was cheese and corn, but kind of fun. And I thought Simmons played a decent villain.

I was impressed by Bowie's performance as Nikola Tesla in The Pretige, too. Hard to believe it's really him.

Sting's problem in movies was always trying to be serious and edgy. I think he would have -- still could -- make a great comedy. I remember him being a terrific SNL host back in the Phil Hartman days.

Likewise, I've seen Michael Stipe bring the funny on TV (I believe he was the neighborhood ice cream man on The Adventures of Pete & Pete). He'd be good in a SF comedy of some kind.

Even though they're fantasies, I'll mention that Alanis Morrissette made a disappointing Supreme Being in Dogma, but that Tina Turner scared the crap out of me as the Acid Queen in Tommy. Not very many female performers I can think of as males in this fight.

Roger Daltrey in Vamperella is truly special. In a bad way.

(I'm a big fan of Daltrey's turn on Highlander, although that's a TV series, and fantasy instead of sci-fi, but it does show that he has potential).

Can we give Vanilla Ice any blame for his role in TMNT 2?

Jeff Hentosz:

I can think of at least one SF movie Tina Turner kicked ass in.

Out of the left field: Kris Kristofferson

Solid actor in his own right ('Lone Star'...) with a couple of decent syfy (snigger) movies to boot (the Blade movies, Trouble in Mind)

Maybe cancelled out by Millenium and the Planet of the Apes remake though...

I think David Bowie has a deep and abiding love for SFF, which translates well into his roles. I will also say that his portrayal of Nikola Tesla in The Prestige goes under the plus column.

And yes, Tina Turner really belongs on this list proper. And does it count if they play themselves? because Tom Jones was kind of awesome in Mars Attacks!

Now if only someone would put Jonathan Coulton in an SF film...

Mick Fleetwood and Dweezil Zappa in The Running Man.

Though it's not science fiction, I rather liked Tim Curry in "Legend".

Ice T in Tank Girl!

We should also remember that both Bruce Willis (13 Monkeys etc) and Russell Crowe (oh wait, he doesn't do any sci-fi) lead absolutely dreadful part-time bar bands and Woody Allen (Sleeper) plays a mean clarinet.

Scalzi: Oh, yeah. ::headsmack::

Well, if you count the time-travel element in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" as sci-fi, Jane Wiedin played a credible Miss of Arc. And as a bonus, she also had a tiny, tiny part in Star Trek IV.

re: Russell Crowe not doing sci-fi:

'Virtuosity'

Definitely one for the debit column then.

Didn't Sting get killed off in the first two minutes of "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"?

Again, a fantasy, but it was a funny 30-second performance, managing to be both earnest and silly.

Speaking of playing themselves, let's not forget Tom Petty in the dreadful Kevin Costner train wreck, "The Postman".

Gene Simmons gets one huge debit (or plus, depending on your motivation) for his role as a hermaphrodite terrorist in the infamous Never Too Young To Die, which featured John Stamos as the gymkata-like hero, Vanity (then a Prince protege) as the love interest, George Lazenby as Stamos' father, and Robert Englund as Simmons' nerdy sidekick.

I wish that I had hallucinated this film, as it would have made so much more sense if the visuals were the result of a fevered pitch.

Hey John,

don't Forget that Tim Curry played Pennywise in Steven King's "IT"

I think that was a good performance as well. It confirmed my fear of Clowns.

I'd like to point out that Sting was phenomenal as the Soldier who is beheaded in the Adventures of Baron Munchhausen.

But then I liked that movie. :D

Debbie Harry was in Videodrome, and has been good elsewhere. Put her on the good-guys side.

Ice Cube was in that lousy John Carpenter Mars movie, wasn't he? Debit column there, even though he's usually pretty good.

Naturally, there's Tom Waits, who stole Bram Stoker's Dracula, and was way better than the material in Wristcutters and Mystery Men (and don't forget The Fisher King -- looks like Gilliam's using him again in Dr. Parnassus). But he could be in nothing but abject crap and still be in the plus column because he's TOM FREAKING WAITS.

Also, Sting isn't always terrible. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels leaps to mind (though it's obviously not sci fi).

Debbie Harry was in Videodrome, and has been good elsewhere. Put her on the good-guys side.

Ice Cube was in that lousy John Carpenter Mars movie, wasn't he? Debit column there, even though he's usually pretty good.

Naturally, there's Tom Waits, who stole Bram Stoker's Dracula, and was way better than the material in Wristcutters and Mystery Men (and don't forget The Fisher King -- looks like Gilliam's using him again in Dr. Parnassus). But he could be in nothing but abject crap and still be in the plus column because he's TOM FREAKING WAITS.

Also, Sting isn't always terrible. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels leaps to mind (though it's obviously not sci fi).

I can think of three sci fi / fantasy films that Tina Turner kicked ass in.

In our house one of the requisite misties for Dune is to start singing the refrain to "Bell Boy" as soon as Sting shows up.

Gringcorp, Ice-T was also in Johnny Mnemonic. As was Hank Rollins.

Thinking about it, I believe Keanu Reeves has a history of playing in rock bands stretching back to before his first films...

So if you consider him a musician who also makes films... Game Over.

Ah heck, how could I forget Zander Schloss of The Circle Jerks in Repo Man?

Also another twofer, although not quite SF, is Bowie and Ann Magnusen (Bongwater, Vulcan Death Grip, Magenta Shift) in The Hunger. Magnusen was also in Tank Girl but was uncredited.

You know, David Johansen may have been terrible in Freejack, but he was a lot of fun as the cabdriving Ghost Of Christmas Past in Scrooged with Bill Murray. Not sci-fi, of course, but just figured I'd point out that the guy isn't always terrible in movies.

@Sarcastro--In fact, the entire Circle Jerks band is in Repo Man, as the band that Otto goes to see and laments that they've started to suck. And actually, Roger Rogerson was still playing bass for them when that movie was made, so maybe that movie is how Zander Schloss ended up in the band? Who knows?

How about Mos Def in Hitchhiker's Guide? Probably a minus, although he was fine. He was also in Please Be Kind Rewind, which has some fantastic elements, as anything by Gondry will.

I hesitate to go deeper into the Hip-Hop catalogue, but there are a lot of rappers in horror flicks lately. Nope, let's skip that.

To put Tim Curry waaaay back in the minus column, add Congo.

I'd say Tom Waits in Coppolla's DRACULA, but Waits was about the only thing enjoyable about that movie. Usually, if a Dracula movie is bad, Renfield carries it. (Exception: Mel Brooks' version. Worst. Brooks. Movie. Evah!)

Meatloaf! I don't know how you'd rate him in Rocky Horror, but he's one more awesome part in the awesomeness of Fight Club, which I count as science fiction. It's at least as science fictiony as Rocky Horror.

Not much to add here, really. Others have come up with plenty, but it ought to be pointed out that Bowie also did a pretty good turn in The Hunger and that Curry has quite a few roles with SFnal overtones, including a very good performance in Hunt for Red October (not really SF, but Clancy has never shied away from or denied strong SF influences in his work).

I would also add that some of these singers have done (sometimes only slightly) better acting jobs in other genres, like Dylan in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid or Mick Jagger in that Ned Kelley movie.

Does it count if the person is primarily known as an actor, and the music is considered secondary? Cause Juliette Lewis was in "Strange Days", a movie I love (admittedly mostly because it has Angela Bassett kicking ass), and she's also a singer.

There's Billie Piper...or are we just talking movies?

Rick Springfield in the original Battlestar Galactica, as Zac. A fairly important background character, in both series.

What about the other way? Brent Spiner and Anthony Head have both released albums. (Which are quite good if you like the styles they sing in.) But then you have to give Nimoy and Shatner major demerits. (Shatner's newest album has surprising merit, though. Really.)

Oh, and a big recent one: The lead singer of Garbage is playing the main villain in this season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicle. This show is surprisingly good, and I don't understand why it doesn't seem to have the geek buzz.

I don't think it goes the other way----I think we're talking established rock stars parlaying their musical fame into making movies and how well they (and the movie) fare. Half the actors in Hollywood have probably been in bands at some point.

The only one I can think of that hasn't been mentioned--Huey Lewis, as a judge in Back to the Future. Very minor part, but I'd say a plus.

And by the way, Mr. Scalzi, re: Bowie and Labyrinth
Listen to your wife.

Does Captain EO count? Because I understand that Michael Jackson guy once had a music career.

Though I suppose yo could argue that Captain EO is just an extended music video, and therefore should count as a demerit for SF in music videos, and not as a demerit for singers in SF movies.

Robert "Iron Man" Downey Jr has some seriously good vocal/piano/composer chops. There's some great songs on his album The Futurist.

"Two men enter; one man leaves!"

A few more:

Mos Def in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (definitely in the debit column)

Jennifer Lopez in The Cell and Anaconda...both debits. (Anaconda could be considered scifi).

You could make a case that Joss Whedon is a musician. He wrote the musical episode of Buffy, Once More With Feeling, and Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog. And he wrote the Ballad of Serenity for the Firefly series. Okay, so he doesn't actually star in a movie, which was the original argument, but you get my drift. If you include Joss Whedon, that's very big on the plus column.

And William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both have albums that are cult classics...

On the subject of Sting.
In all fairness you have to list in the plus column Brimstone and Treacle. It might or might not be a fantasy but it was certainly an impressive performance.

Not a clue whether she's done SF, but Queen Latifah's a musician who's made some movies....

I registered to comment here because I can't believe you mentioned Tim Curry without mentioning the horror/awesomeness that is his performance in The Worst Witch. (Google/YouTube it. It's one of those so terrible it wraps back round to awesome things.)

RE: David Bowie. I do not know a single girl from my generation who didn't imprint on Bowie after his performance in Labyrinth. (And on Little Bowie too. Rawr.) My sisters have the soundtracks, the DVDs, the storybooks, and I got 'em both Brian Froud artbooks sometime back. You diss Labyrinth at your peril, is all I'm sayin'.

El, Queen Latifah was in Sphere... as was Huey Lewis.

Oh, and Tricky and Milla Jovavich were both in The Fifth Element. (Which is cheesy but fun.)

And Bjork was in a few films, most notably Dancer in the Dark. Her partner's (Matt Barney) art film is, if not sci-fi, decidedly surreal. Her videos sometimes have SF elements, like the video for All is Full of Love.

Xibit was in X-Files: I Want to Believe. I know a lot of people hated the movie, but I don't think he was the reason they hated it.

Henry Connick, Jr. - also in Independence Day!

I was going to bring up the weirdness of Ice-T and Henry Rollins in Johnny Mneumonic, but someone else beat me to it. (I'd say movies should get bonus points for having two musicians in it, but I'd never give Johnny Mneumonic any points.)

Tim Curry also had a role in TV show Earth2 which I was fond of back in Junior High.

Another possible demerit for Sting:

Julia and Julia (1987), which also starred Gabriel Byrne and Kathleen Turner. It had an alternate worlds thing going on, which might qualify it for consideration as either science fiction or fantasy.

Interesting film, but too confusing to be called good, I think.

I'm surprised this thread got this far without anyone mentioning the magnificent waste of film that was KISS meets the Phantom of the Park (1978). The only thing to recommend it was a nice acoustic guitar version of Beth, sung by Peter Criss. Watch at own risk.

If memory serves, Iggy Pop played one of the main heavies in the second Crow movie.

Dag Sub-Odean, you just opened a can of worms.

IMDB says Iggy was indeed in Crow 2 and was also in Tank Girl, an episode of ST:DS9, did a voice in Rock and Rule and was in a post-apocalyptic movie I've never seen called Hardware that also features Lemmy freakin' Killmeister! I gots to find that one.

He was also in one of my very favorite films, Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man which is a fantasy of sorts. Magical Realism really.

Your wife is absolutely right-- Labyrinth rocks, and Bowie did a fantastic job as Tesla in The Prestige, too.

Hardware (1990)

Iggy Pop
Lemmy from Motorhead
Carl McCoy from Fields of the Nephilim

i thank you.

Let's see, we got:

Jack Black (of Tenacious D) in King Kong, Mars Attacks

Didn't Ellen Green sing with Meatloaf before she made Little Shop of Horrors?

George Segal was in Terminal Man, and is a heck of a banjo picker (as is Steve Martin, but he doesn't seem to have much SF in his filmography).

Liberace was a villain in the Batman TV series.

Ann Margret was in Tommy (as were The Who).

In addition to the Circle Jerks, Repo Man has The Untouchables.

The Wiz is full of musicians.

Reba McEntire was in a real fun movie .... Tremors.

Although he's not known primarily as a musician, Steve Martin has some serious musical chops. And I believe Little Shop of Horrors is considered scifi by some (although I'm not sure if the Man With Two Brains is more sci-fi, comedy or just plain awful).

Kyle: The only thing to recommend it was a nice acoustic guitar version of Beth, sung by Peter Criss. Watch at own risk.

And those absolutely spec-freaking-tacular boots.

Does Scarlett Johanssen count as a musician nowadays? Heh. No scifi (er, syfy) though.

I seem to remember that much of the cast of Liquid Sky were part of the New York No-Wave scene. It's a shame that it's never been releases on DVD (at least not that I've been able to find) and has been out of print for well over a decade. How can you not love a movie about alien junkies in post-punk NYC.

Scarlett Johanssen was in The Island which i think qualifies as scifi.

Though, on the strength of the Waits cover album, whether she's a musician is up for debate...