15 Times Hollywood Actresses Starred in Music Videos, and We Totally Missed It
Sometimes a music video deserves more attention than the song it was made for. It’s especially true if an A-list actor takes part in it. These music videos usually have an interesting story behind.
At CHEERY, we love good music and everything associated with it. So we found some curious facts about the music videos starring famous actors.
Megan Fox — Machine Gun Kelly: “Bloody Valentine”
When the rumors about Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly dating appeared in the media, the couple avoided commenting on them for a long time. They met on the set of the thriller Midnight in the Switchgrass. Megan had just split with her husband, Brian Austin Green, and tried to shun the limelight.
But the “Bloody Valentine” music video revealed everything that had been hidden. The actress and musician played a couple there. By the way, after the music video’s release, they stopped hiding from the paparazzi and came out as a couple.
Scarlett Johansson — Justin Timberlake: “What Goes Around... Comes Around”
In 2006, Justin Timberlake released the song “What Goes Around... Comes Around” which became a super hit. When the time came to make a video for this song, director Samuel Bayer and the singer decided to make a real short film. And Scarlett Johansson was invited to star in it.
The video, which is almost 10 minutes long, tells the love story of Timberlake’s character and a girl he met at a club. Their relationship has its ups and downs, and eventually, Johansson’s character dies just like Elizabeth Taylor’s character in the 1960 movie BUtterfield 8.
Anne Hathaway — Jenny Lewis: “Just One Of The Guys”
It was real fun to make Jenny Lewis’s music video “Just One Of The Guys” for everyone who was involved. They cracked with laughter every time they watched the footage on monitors. One of the actresses who starred in this video was Anne Hathaway.
Anne had a fake mustache and a rat tail she herself insisted on wearing which was hilarious. By the way, 2 other famous actresses, Kristen Stewart and Brie Larson, assisted her in playing other ridiculous macho men.
Eva Mendes — Will Smith: “Miami”
Will Smith’s famous music video for the song “Miami” saw the light in 1997. It became that year’s super hit. But only attentive fans recognized Eva Mendes as the beauty who was driving a convertible when the rapper and his friends were cruising around. By the way, Eva starred alongside Smith in the movie Hitch. It’s also worth mentioning that Eva voiced the words “Bienvenido a Miami” herself so she was not only part of the music video but also of the song.
Diane Keaton — Justin Bieber: “Ghost”
Diane Keaton played Justin Bieber’s grandmother in the music video for his song “Ghost”. The singer personally called her and asked her to take part in the video. It’s interesting that at the time the Hollywood actress already had over 50 years of experience in movies, but she had never filmed a music video before.
The actress even brought her own clothes to the set. By the way, Keaton was charmed by Bieber and really enjoyed working with him.
Evan Rachel Wood — Green Day: “Wake Me Up When September Ends”
The Hollywood actors Jamie Bell and Evan Rachel Wood started dating after they played a couple in love in Green Day’s music video “Wake Me Up When September Ends”. The project was so successful that it was named the best music video of the year, and the director Samuel Bayer considers it his greatest creation.
Incidentally, this song became an Internet meme over time. Every September 30, Internet users call to Green Day’s frontman to wake up. The musician is uncomfortable with these memes, and once joked that he would write a sequel song in response in which he would tell everyone to shut up “when October begins.”
Gal Gadot — Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B: “Girls Like You”
In “Girls Like You”, Maroon 5 and Cardi B raise the important topic of women’s rights. No wonder, so many famous women agreed to take part in this video: athletes, comedians, journalists, scientists, and actresses. Among them was Gal Gadot who is standing back to back with Adam Levine and singing along.
In fact, the video director sent several important messages with this video. A representative of indigenous people, for example, wore a T-shirt with the words “Divest, Water is Life.”
Minka Kelly — Maroon 5: “One More Night”
Another Maroon 5 music video starring a famous actress is the Titans star, Minka Kelly. According to her, she portrayed a woman who knows that sometimes she has to do bad, but necessary things. Her character leaves her husband and takes their child with her while he’s fighting in a boxing ring. After winning the fight, her husband returns home and realizes what he’s lost.
Rosamund Pike — Massive Attack & Young Fathers: “Voodoo In My Blood”
When the director Ringan Ledwidge was 12 years old, he watched the iconic horror movie Possession and was impressed by it so much that he’s kept it in mind for all these years. Only in 2016 did he manage to bring his ideas to life. Ledwidge made a music video for Massive Attack and invited Rosamund Pike to star in it.
According to the director, the actress was not afraid to look ugly and weird. She did her best to get into character. As a result, the music video “Voodoo In My Blood” turned out to be disturbing and breathtaking at the same time, just as the director wanted.
Maisie Williams — Seafret: “Oceans”
Perhaps, Maisie Williams, who starred in Game of Thrones, managed to play the character of Seafret’s music video, Ocean, so well because she can relate to this character. She also feels often misunderstood and criticized by the public.
In an interview, Maisie revealed that she’s often attacked by Internet trolls. Even though she tries to ignore them, it still hurts her. In the video, her character is bullied by her classmates. So, she dreams of becoming a superhero to fight back against the bullies.
Nathalie Kelley — Bruno Mars: “Just The Way You Are”
Australian actress Nathalie Kelley has played the love interest of the main hero in a few music videos. She appeared in the videos of Baby Rasta & Gringo and Rhye. But her most prominent work in music is Bruno Mars’s video for the song “Just The Way You Are”. By the way, this video won a few awards that year, and today has more than 1.5 billion views on YouTube.
Alexandra Daddario — Imagine Dragons: “Radioactive”
Alexandra Daddario played a mysterious female drafter who fights the main villain, played by the famous actor Lou Diamond Phillips. This video has become one of the most successful videos of the band. In 2021, it was the group’s third most viewed video.
Angelina Jolie — Meat Loaf: “Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through”
Angelina Jolie, who was a 19-year-old aspiring actress at the time, played a runaway teenager in Meat Loaf’s music video “Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through”. In the story, she meets a fortune teller who comforts her. In the end, she decides to return to her parents.
The album which had this song was very successful. A few singles from it won music awards and took the top of the charts. Unfortunately, this song and music video were not very popular. Only years later, after Angelina became a world-famous celebrity, this video gained some attention.
Christina Ricci — Moby: “Natural Blues”
The mother of the video director, David LaChapelle, used to work as a nurse at a retirement community. In childhood, he often visited this place, so when he took on the job of making a music video for Moby’s song “Natural Blues”, he immediately decided that the song sounded like someone reconciling with being at the end of their life. He felt that the retirement home concept was best for the video.
Actress Fairuza Balk played Moby’s love interest. And the angelic figure who carried him away was
played by Christina Ricci. At the time, the actress was at the peak of her popularity, and this drew even more public attention to the video, which eventually won the award for Best Video at the 2000 MTV Europe Music Awards.
Sophie Turner — Jonas Brothers: “What A Man Gotta Do”
When the Jonas Brothers decided to make a video for their song “What a Man Gotta Do”, they never doubted who should star in it. They invited their significant others — Sophie Turner, Priyanka Chopra, and Danielle Jonas. By the way, each couple recreated scenes from iconic movies: Nick and Priyanka played a scene from Risky Business, Kevin and Danielle chose Say Anything, and Sophie and Joe recreated a scene from Grease.
Do you know any other music videos starring famous actors? Tell us in the comments below.