In a recent interview with Classic Rock, Billy Idol revealed that he missed out on the role of the T-1000 in ‘Terminator 2’ due to injuries from a 1990 motorcycle accident. He was James Cameron’s first choice for the role, but his injury prevented him from meeting the physical demands of the character. He said:
“I did do an audition for it. But I’d had a really bad motorcycle accident. James Cameron always shoots the reading or the audition, whatever you want to call it. So they actually shot it, I’ve actually seen it, where at one point he says, ‘The T-1000 lives!’ I had the police helmet on and the shades.”
He explained the real problem, which was that he couldn’t run. And then he congratulated John Patrick on acting as T-100. Idol continued:
“But the trouble was, I had to be able to run. You know, there’s one point where the T-1000 runs after the car, you know that whole bit. Well, I had to be able to run, and I had a terrible limp from the motorcycle accident, so I couldn’t do the movie. It was such a drag. Stan Winston‘s special effects department, they had drawings of me as the T-1000. But in the end, Robert Patrick brought a cold veneer that I could never have brought to it. He brought a cold veneer that was really robotic. So the right man got the job!”
Rock Stars Turned Actors
Billy Idol preferred to focus on his music career rather than acting. But there are rock stars who have managed to balance the two. Musicians who pursue an acting career at the same time are common in the rock scene. These multi-talented artists manage to captivate audiences both on stage and screen. One of these rock stars who managed to balance two demanding careers is Jack Black.
Jack Black, who believes that the acting and music careers should not be separated, is not afraid to reflect his rock background in his roles. In an interview with IGN in 2004, he talked about his acting and music careers. He said:
“I can’t really separate the two, because if I didn’t have the rock, then I wouldn’t have the career that I have going now. And if I didn’t have the acting, then I wouldn’t have the rock really either. They’ve always been conjoined twins. If you try to separate them like you’re doing, they will die. Neither will survive. They share the same heart!”
Another rock star known as much for his music as for his acting is 30 Seconds To Mars frontman Jared Leto. He is an actor who has been able to appeal to a larger audience, perhaps because he has had the chance to play in films with bigger budgets as an actor, and his band 30 Seconds to Mars also has a number of hits.He spoke to RTE’s Linda McGee in 2010 about his two different paths. He said:
“I’ve been doing both for so long, since I was young. I mean I didn’t start acting until I was in my early 20s, but it never bothered me, you know. Yeah, I tend to spend my time focusing on what’s in front of me, what is the priority, and that’s seemed to serve me well so far.”
Marilyn Manson also pursued an acting career. After getting a start in movies and TV fairly early in his career with 1997’s Lost Highway, he’s gone on to take fantastic roles in ‘Sons Of Anarchy,’ ‘Let Me Make You A Martyr,’ ‘Eastbound & Down ‘and many more. In an interview with Hunger in 2015, he explained what it was like to act and how it made him feel. He said:
“There’s something really immediate and freeing about acting that I hadn’t realised after making seventeen or so music videos where you’re performing to the camera, because you’re performing to people watching. When you’re acting, you’re not conscious of the camera or where it is, so there’s no vanity or anything like that; you can’t think about that. I wanted to be the character I was given whether they looked bad or good or ugly or evil; I didn’t know that it would be comfortable to have a goatee, which is like the opposite of lipstick. I enjoy being able to express different parts of my personality. Painting, or acting, or making music. But I love to sing live, that’s what makes me most happy.”
These are just some of the rock stars who are involved in many forms of art.
