MusicRadar

"Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in."

View in gallery

Ice-T The sneering gangsta hip-hop emcee made quite a name for himself with the notorious track Cop Killer. Roles in movies like New Jack City and Ricochet established Ice-T as an one-of-a-kind actor who could do more than sensationalize. On TV, as the charismatic Detective Odafin Tutuola in the smash series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Ice-T portrays a complex, streetwise crime fighter who knows how to investigate and interrogate.

Will Smith As the second half of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Smith's career as a friendly, common sense-dispensing rapper took off. Things skyrocketed once he hit the small screen on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. In movies, Smith became a certified superstar, starring in blockbusters such as Independence Day, Bad Boys and Enemy Of The State. His vivid portrayal of the iconic boxer Muhammad Ali in Ali brought Smith his first Best Actor Oscar nomination (he would again be nominated for The Pursuit Of Happyness). This summer, he's set to break box office records in Hancock.

Madonna She's the Material Girl, the hyper-ambitious queen of self-re-invention. Having sold millions of CDs and performed sold-out concerts around the world, Madonna could easily rest on her laurels. But acting has always held a special interest for her, and in her debut in Desperately Seeking Susan, Madonna stole the show. Since then, she's had a hit-and-miss film career, with roles in Dick Tracy, A League Of Their Own and The Next Best Thing. However, it was her remarkable performance as Eva Peron in the screen adaptation of the hugely successful Broadway musical Evita that brought Madonna a Golden Globe as Best Actress.

Courtney Love As the wife (and later widow) of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and leader of the band Hole, Love never failed to grab the spotlight. Small acting turns in the films Sid And Nancy and Straight To Hell caught director Milos Forman's eye. The celebrated helmer cast Love as Althea Flynt opposite Woody Harrelson in The People Vs. Larry Flynt - and a Golden Globe nomination followed. Next, Love starred alongside Jim Carrey in the Andy Kaufman biopic, Man On The Moon. The musician-actress will soon plunge back into murky waters, tackling the role of the late porn star Linda Lovelace.

Meat Loaf The king-sized rock superstar moved boatloads of albums with the operatic Bat Out Of Hell and its subsequent sequels. Similarly, the Loaf has made his presence felt with beefy roles in Rocky Horror Picture Show, Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny and Americathon. His shattering performance as a hug-requiring pre-op transsexual in David Fincher's Fight Club was a revelation, and proved to the world that there was more to Meat Loaf than Paradise By The Dashboard Light.