Ten Hollywood Actors Who Have Played in Alternative Bands

Dusty Lalas Corus Radio

September 21, 2026 4:56 pm

With TIFF wrapping up let’s take a look at the intersection of movies and music: when Hollywood actors dabble in alternative rock (or alternative rock adjacent genres). Many people know about Jack Black and his group Tenacious D or Joe Keery and Finn Wolfhard from Stranger Things and their increasingly popular music projects, but here are some big screen stars who you may not know have done some rocking and/or rolling occasionally.

Action star and well-known chill dude Keanu Reeves formed Dogstar in 1991 and has recently begun playing with them a lot more often, releasing an album in 2026.

The legendary William Shatner is known for his spoken word versions of big hits, notably Pulp’s “Common People”. At this year’s Riot Fest in Chicago he unveiled his latest project, a foray into the world of heavy metal.

Ryan Gosling will soon be playing a motorcycle riding skeleton in Marvel’s Ghost Rider so it’s very appropriate that he named his band Dead Man’s Bones.

Frankie Muniz pivoted from acting to driving race cars and also had a brief stint as the drummer for a band called Kingsfoil.

Speaking of drummers, longtime Wes Anderson collaborator Jason Schwartzman was the original drummer for indie rock band Phantom Planet, who had a huge breakthrough in 2003 when their song “California” was used as the theme song for the massively popular teen soap The OC.

Toni Collette briefly had a band in the 2000s called The Finish.

Her Little Miss Sunshine costar Paul Dano also once played in a band called Mook.

Highest grossing actor of all time Scarlett Johansson has not only release solo albums but also collaborations with singer-songwriter Pete Yorn and a band called The Singles.

He’s best known for playing serial killer Dexter on the series of the same name, but Michael C Hall’s band Princess Goes isn’t quite as scary. They’re a synth rock act that would be right at home touring alongside The Killers, appropriately enough.

Michael Cera has played musicians on screen several times, most famously the title character from 2010’s excellent Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and he has played with several different bands in the real world as well including The Long Goodbye, Mister Heavenly, in addition to solo work.