Once Again, the Rise of the Actor-Singer

The face staring from the CD cover seems familiar--well, except that Uncle Junior on “The Sopranos” usually isn’t partial to relaxing, much less smiling. And his suburban New Jersey sensibilities never would have led him to don a sleek black turtleneck.

But the person on the cover of the recently released “Hits” is Dominic Chianese, who plays Corrado “Junior” Soprano on the popular HBO series. And the hits aren’t the sort normally associated with his TV Mafia family but, rather, a variety of songs ranging from “Amazing Grace” to Italian favorites like “Santa Lucia.”

“The album was always in me,” said Chianese, 70, who grew up in the Bronx surrounded by the sounds of Bing Crosby and myriad Italian crooners. “I’ve just been waiting for a producer for 50 years.”

With the June 5 release of his album, Chianese joins the latest It-group of singing sensations in the entertainment industry--actors and actresses who may or may not have had formal voice training but are taking to the mike nonetheless.

In the new movie musical “Moulin Rouge,” both Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor belt out several tunes just as Gwyneth Paltrow did last fall in the karaoke flick “Duets.” And not only did the final episode of “The Sopranos” end last month to the strains of Chianese singing an Italian love song, recent “Ally McBeal” episodes also have featured Robert Downey Jr.’s husky croonings. Also, Chianese isn’t the only “Sopranos” cast member putting out a CD. Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who plays Meadow Soprano and is Cuban American, is recording a Latin music album scheduled for release in fall.

“There is this kind of return to the old days when individuals as diverse as James Cagney and Fred MacMurray danced and sang as well,” said Richard Jewell, associate dean of the USC School of Cinema and Television. “From an actor’s point of view, it’s an opportunity to show people that you really have a talent that they never imagined you had. It’s a tremendous opportunity to set yourself apart and call attention to the fact that you are really like they were in the old days--an incredibly talented but also well-rounded actor or actress.”

The “old days” that Jewell speaks of were the 1930s through the 1950s, when the Hollywood studio system was firmly in place and powerful establishments like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount groomed stars who often sang and danced as well as acted.

But the studio system began to decline in the 1950s, in part due to the advent of television and the rise of independent productions, said David A. Cook, author of “A History of Narrative Film.” As a result, stars gradually became free agents who didn’t necessarily sing and act anymore, Cook said.

There have been exceptions. John Travolta and Stockard Channing joined singer Olivia Newton-John in memorably lending their vocals to “Grease.” And in the 1980s, Michelle Pfeiffer purred “Makin’ Whoopee” in “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” and Patrick Swayze tested his vocal cords in “Dirty Dancing” with “She’s Like the Wind,” a song that ended up getting a fair share of radio air time.

Hollywood observers say the current wave of actor-singers is emerging in part because of a recent change in the entertainment industry.

“Today’s entertainment industry is exactly that--it’s entertainment,” said Zorianna Kitt, who covers the film industry for the Hollywood Reporter. “Things aren’t as segregated into pockets anymore. It’s not enough to just be an actor or singer or writer. People have to be entertainers all across the boards in today’s world.

“Look at Jennifer Lopez--she sings, she dances, she acts,” Kitt added. “In a case like hers, there can be a lot of cross-pollination. Studios can coordinate a movie release with album releases, and the song can appear in the movie.”

In fact, the J. Lo movie-album business model has proved a success so far. When Lopez’s “The Wedding Planner” opened the same January week as the release of her second album, “J. Lo,” the actress not only ended up No. 1 in the box office, but also knocked the Beatles out of the top spot on Billboard’s album chart.

But the Lopez paradigm isn’t the only reason actors are turning to singing.

“Take ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding,’ ” said Andrew Ross, an Australian voice coach who worked with Kidman and McGregor on the set of “Moulin Rouge.” “The most memorable scene in that movie was the one where the cast started singing ‘I Say a Little Prayer.’ In Hollywood at the moment, producers and directors are finding the power of opening up another part of a character by allowing them to sing.”

And often, the actors who croon in roles have long harbored interest in singing and are encouraged by the reaction to their performances on screen. Ross predicted that McGregor, whose vocals on the “Moulin Rouge” soundtrack have won some praise, will eventually record an album.

“I’ve said this many times, but I really see Ewan as a rock god,” said Ross, who just finished working with actress Linda Cardellini on a vocal bit she does in the coming “Scooby Doo” movie. “He just loves singing, he loves music and he’s talked about wanting to record an album. But he doesn’t want to be put in the position of recording an album just because of this film. He wants to make an album when he has something musically that he wants to say.”

When he and other actors do, their chances of initial success in music are fairly good--if their timing is right, said Guy Zapoleon of Houston, a music industry trends consultant whose clients have included 100 radio stations across the country.

“If it’s the first time, it’s always a fascination if somebody has this other ability that they may not be aware of,” Zapoleon said. “And overall the quality of music out there isn’t that good. We’re kind of in the doldrums right now--the teen thing is kind of moving on and there’s nothing really new on the horizon with mass appeal.”

It should be noted that stars like Jennifer Love Hewitt and Alyssa Milano have inflicted subpar pop music albums on the world. Yet their careers seem to have been unaffected by their musical endeavors. Even so, Cook warned, actors who make themselves ubiquitous in several arenas could risk the pratfalls of overexposure.

“Elliott Gould was a big star at the beginning of the ‘70s,” said Cook, who also is program director of film studies at Emory University in Atlanta. “But he made many movies in the ‘70s, unlike stars like Robert Redford, who did four films in the entire decade. It’s widely thought that [Gould] ruined his image through overexposure.”

For some, though, the risk may be worth it. When a record executive approached Chianese after hearing him sing at a Nashville film festival last fall, the actor said he didn’t have to think twice.

“Growing up, I always loved how music brought people together, how it made them laugh and cry and be happy,” said Chianese, who began dreaming of singing when he was 16 and saw Frank Sinatra perform.

“In my heart,” he said, “I always wanted a singing career.”