6 Actors Who Didn’t Sing In Their Famous Movies — But We Thought They Did
Everyone loves to sing along with their favorite characters when they have a song in a movie. Whether it’s Zac Efron in High School Musical or Rebecca Ferguson in The Greatest Showman, we not only love to sing during the movie, but along to the soundtracks in our car or living room.
But did you know that some of your favorite movie songs were sung by different people than you thought? It’s certainly not a new tradition, going back to such classics as Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Fair Lady (1964), where she was dubbed by Marni Nixon, who had previously sung for Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961).
Check out which of these actors didn’t sing the iconic songs from more recent movies.
1. Zac Efron in High School Musical
When Troy Bolton sang, “Get’cha Head in the Game,” we sang at full volume while mimicking his basketball moves. But did you know that wasn’t actually Zac Efron singing? For the first film of the High School Musical trilogy, Disney called on actor and singer Drew Seeley to sing Troy’s parts. The reason is supposedly due to the fact that Efron was a baritone and didn’t fit the part.
“In the first movie, after everything was recorded, my voice was not on them,” Efron explained. “I was not really given an explanation…Then High School Musical blew up.” Although Efron’s voice wasn’t f
eatured on the first of the movies, you can hear the actor singing in the second and third films (thank goodness!), plus he sings in other musicals like The Greatest Showman and Hairspray.
2. Jennifer Lopez in Selena
Although Jennifer Lopez is an award-winning musician, you can’t hear her voice i
n her breakout film, Selena. What you hear in the movie during every performance is actually the late singer while Lopez lip-syncs to the tracks. Of course, Selena Quintanilla had a very distinct sound that was hard to imitate, so it’s probable the film’s directors wanted to stay true to her unique sound.
3. Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody
Freddie Mercury of Queen was an icon and a hard person to replicate, but Rami Malek really did the artist justice. His costumes and performances were on point, but did you know that’s not really the actor’s voice during the songs?
Malek shared in an interview, “It is an amalgamation of a few voices. But predominantly it is my hope and the hope of everyone that we will hear as much Freddie as possible.” Singer Marc Martel, who sounds very similar to the late singer, also provided his voice for parts of the film.
4. BD Wong in Mulan
In an animation film, it is hard to know if the actor is doing all of the singing or if there is another person on board for that. In Mulan, it turns out there are multiple people voicing Captain Li Shang. While BD Wong covered the speaking parts for the character, it is legendary singer Donny Osmond’s voice you hear during his songs, inclu
ding “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.”
5. Rebecca Ferguson in The Greatest Showman
We can’t help but sing along with “Never Enough” with Rebecca Ferguson’s character on The Greatest Showman, but you’d be surprised to know that wasn’t really her voice. Although she played the character, the singing voice was actually a showstopping performance by Loren Allred, who was also a performer on Britain’s Got Talent.
6. George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou?
While George Clooney was supposed to sing for his role in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the actor recalled that he sounded, “like a cat caught in the wheel well of a truck driving down the street.” Clooney recalled his audition in a cast reunion, explaining that everyone thought he could sing because his aunt was Rosemary Clooney. Alas, that was not the case, and singer Dan Tyminski was brought in to save the day.
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