Singers turned actresses

“Vision Quest,� 1985

This 1985 cougar romance between Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino featured Madonna as a club singer, singing her hit “Crazy for You.â€� Released one month later was Madonna’s more full-fledged debut as the title character in “Desperately Seeking Susan,â€� a free-spirited East Village drifter (complete with Madonna’s then-trademark of ripped clothes and ‘do-rag on her head) who changes places with a bored housewife played by Rosanna Arquette.  (Evan Agostini / Associated Press)

“The Princess Diaries,� 2001

Moore prances and sings “Stupid Cupidâ€� as the high school’s mean Queen Bee. She’s the general tormentor of socially awkward would-be princess Anne Hathaway in this Garry Marshall film, the first of Moore’s efforts that actually appears to have made it to theaters.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

“Sid and Nancy,� 1986

Before there was Kurt and Courtney, there was another reigning couple of rock self-destruction: the Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, whose volatile relationship was immortalized in this 1986 Alex Cox film. Love auditioned for the role of Nancy, proclaiming on a self-made video, “I am Nancy.â€� Cox gave the part to Chloe Webb but wrote a small part for Love in the film. Love later played Larry Flynt‘s stripper-turned-wife, Althea, in “The People vs. Larry Flynt,â€� a biopic about Flynt’s rise to porn royalty and his legal battle against evangelist Jerry Falwell.  (Joel Zwink / For The Times)

“Jungle Fever,� 1991

The rapper, singer and sitcom star had a small role in Spike Lee‘s exegis of interracial love “Jungle Fever,â€� before going on to fire up the big screen in such films as “Set It Off,â€� “Bringing Down the Houseâ€� and “Chicago.â€�  (Andy Lyons / Getty Images)