While Gwen Stefani has long been on television screens as a judge on The Voice, she also had ambitions of making it in film as an actor. While she has not had many roles, she auditioned for parts with several high profile directors. She auditioned for a role in the Brian de Palma film Black Dahlia and admitted the experience was a bit humiliating.
Gwen Stefani auditioned for a film with Josh Hartnett
In the early 2000s, Stefani began to shift her focus to film acting. She auditioned for a part in Black Dahlia alongside Josh Hartnett, who had a role as a detective.
“It was really humiliating and nerve-racking, but I feel like I did pretty well,” she told Vogue. “But I don’t know whether I would ever even do it if they offered it to me because it’s a kind of a racy part.”
While she felt that she did well in the audition, she had little confidence that she would get the part.
“I know I’m not going to get it, because I think the character is so the opposite of me,” she said. “She’s really dark and naughty and slutty. And she has black hair.”
Stefani did not get the part, which may have eventually come as a relief. Black Dahlia was ultimately not a success with critics. It currently has a 32% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Gwen Stefani said she felt she could work in film
Stefani signed with her acting agent in 1997, just after she concluded No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom tour. She admitted that their relationship leaned more social than professional.
“All I ever do is go to parties with him,” she said. “I never do movies.”
Still, he landed her an audition for Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and she said she nearly got the part.
“It was between me and Angelina Jolie, and I’m like, ‘Oh, great. I got a shot here.’”
While her strengths lay in music, Stefani believed she was capable of being a good actor.
“The whole acting thing really feels like something I could do,” she said. “Whenever I’ve done it, whenever I had moments where it works, it’s just like performing. You hit a moment. And that’s what movies are: a series of moments.
She admitted her role in ‘The Aviator’ posed a challenge for her
Stefani did land a part in Martin Scorsese’s film The Aviator in 2004. It was a relatively small part — she only had a few lines — but she liked working on the film. Still, she said she faced one challenge on set: she didn’t like her makeup.
“I would have done it a little differently,” she said. “I’m always in control of my hair and makeup. I was like, ‘Are you sure you want the lips to be that thin? Jean Harlow’s were bigger than that. It’s not like I didn’t read two biographies and watch eighteen of her movies before I got here.’”
She said she left the decision making in the makeup artist’s hands, though.
“But what are you going to do?” she asked. “They were in control. I couldn’t say anything. It was hard.”
Most recently, Stefani has done voice acting in Trolls and Piece by Piece.
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