The only “great” musicians Sting thought could be good actors
Not many artists can claim to be a jack of all trades. Some of the best artists in the world are normally suited to their own instrument, but had anyone asked a guitarist to drop everything and pick up a banjo, there’s a good chance they would get a lot of blank expressions. Then again, Sting knew that he at least had the opportunity to stretch out as a musician when he could.
After all, the whole reason The Police broke up was that he knew he needed to go beyond the power trio lineup. Both Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland were brilliant for what they did, but it was never going to work with the incredible tension between everyone and knowing where they needed to compromise. But right as he was starting to branch out, he also managed to get the acting bug.
And for someone in Sting’s position, everything pointed to things going wrong for him in a movie like Dune. He has a great sense of charisma when he wanted to, but aside from being one of the biggest stars in the world, this could have easily gone into the realm of a vanity project. But the bassist was committed, and when he broke out the blonde hair and started training, everyone knew he wasn’t messing around.
But Sting knew that it was a bit of a gamble as well. There had been countless artists who have made the transition into film, but whereas Elvis Presley and The Beatles had their respective movie deals, it wasn’t like they had to train as actors, People only wanted to see them, but if Sting were going to make his way onto the silver screen, he would rather leave an impact as a character rather than a pretty face.
Because when thinking about his role at the time, Sting felt that only two musicians manage to transition to film that well, saying, “Some of the best rock performers don’t have any sense at all. And I think the performers who have managed to make the transition from one form to another are unusually clever. David Bowie and Bobby Darin both did it quite skilfully. Bobby Darin was a great singer and a great actor. And The Man Who Fell to Earth was a clever thing for Bowie to do.”
Then again, both of them already knew the pitfalls of what movies entailed. Bobby Darin had a long history of being a stage performer, so it wasn’t that hard for him to translate that to when the camera was on him. Bowie was the true standout, though. In The Man Who Fell to Earth, Bowie’s habit of transforming himself into different personas served him well, playing the perfect fish out of water in a land full of strange lifeforms.
So did Sting manage to have the same enthusiasm? Not exactly. He said time and time again that he wanted to keep his movie career to a minimum, saying, “I’m doing Dune because of David Lynch and for no other reason. I didn’t really want to do the movie because I didn’t think it was wise for me to be in an enormous movie. I’d rather keep a groundswell building up in my movie career.” And given the lack of film credits he has accumulated over the next few years, it’s not like he’s trying to be a true thespian by any stretch of the imagination.
Most artists might seem defined by their limitations, but Sting knew when his work wasn’t cut out for being in a blockbuster film. He could get his point across with any instrument he could get his hands on, and he wasn’t about to ruin his hot streak by focusing his attention on how his close-up looked.
