History Main / NonActorVehicle

Hiring of a big celebrity in a '''starring role''' in a movie, play or TV show. Only, this celebrity isn't known for acting. In fact, this may be the celebrity's first acting job. A close cousin of StuntCasting, only with a bit more risk, since the stunt castee doesn't have much experience (if any), and is practically carrying the project despite that inexperience.

* MariahCarey in ''{{Glitter}}'', and a supporting role in {{Precious}}.

* MariahCarey in ''{{Glitter}}''.

* Gwen Stefani (as Jean Harlow!) in ''TheAviator''.

* HulkHogan in ''No Holds Barred''.

* Whichever wrestler is starring in any given [[{{WWE}} WWE Films]] project.

* Cindy Crawford in ''Fair Game''.
* DavidBowie was "perfectly cast as an androgynous extraterrestrial" (Joe Queenan) in ''[[TheManWhoFellToEarth The Man Who Fell to Earth]]''. He went on to appear in a number of films in both lead and supporting roles (''Labyrinth'', anyone?); he also made a foray into live theater in 1980 as the title character in the Broadway play ''The Elephant Man''.

* Almost everybody in the last ''{{Asterix}}'' movie. It bombed.

* Shirley Manson in ''TheSarahConnorChronicles''.
* Paris Hilton in every movie/show she was cast in. (Yeah, [[RepoTheGeneticOpera even that one]])

* MariahCarey in ''Glitter''. So bad, everyone forgot it until now.

* ''{{Survivor}}'' contestant Colleen Haskell in Rob Schneider's ''The Animal''.

* [[{{U2}} Bono]] in ''AcrossTheUniverse'' and ''The Million Dollar Hotel''.

----

* ParisHilton in every movie/show she was cast in. (Yeah, [[RepoTheGeneticOpera even that one]])

* ''{{Survivor}}'' contestant Colleen Haskell in RobSchneider's ''The Animal''.

* 50 Cent in ''Get Rich Or Die Tryin','', a fact ''TheBoondocks'' went to town with.

* [=Jenny McCarthy=] in ''TheStupids''.

* LucianoPavarotti in ''Yes, Giorgio''.

* 50 Cent in ''GetRichOrDieTryin'', a fact ''TheBoondocks'' went to town with.

* Swimmer EstherWilliams started a similar screen career with a supporting part in ''Andy Hardy's Double Life''. A series of star vehicles followed, starting with ''Bathing Beauty''.

* CindyCrawford in ''Fair Game''.

* ArnoldSchwarzenegger in ''HerculesInNewYork''.
* TheVillagePeople and Bruce Jenner in ''[[CantStopTheMusic Can't Stop the Music]]''; the former also overlaps with AutobiographicalRole.

* WhitneyHouston in ''The Bodyguard''.
* OliviaNewtonJohn in ''{{Grease}}''.

* Jackie Robinson in ''TheJackieRobinsonStory''.

* Taylor Firth in the 2010 remake of ''{{Ice Castles}}''.

* Disney Channel sitcomes like to do this a lot. Isn't it convenient that all of their [[strike:machine-]] self-made stars can sing and "act"?

* Probably the most infamous (as in SoBadItsHorrible) examples of this trope are the two big vehicles for Shaquille O'Neal; ''{{Kazaam}}'' and ''{{Film/Steel}}''. His first film, ''Blue Chips'', had him in a supporting role and was better-received.

* AudieMurphy was so bad ass, he was the only man capable of playing himself in ''To Hell and Back''.
** [[RealityIsUnrealistic He had to tone it down]] because the audience won't believe it!

* NFL star Brian Bosworth in ''Stone Cold''. He's done a fair amount of supporting roles since then.

* [[TwistedSister Dee Snider]] in the horror movie ''Strangeland''.

Hiring of a big celebrity in a starring role in a movie, play or TV show. Only, this celebrity isn't known for acting. In fact, this may be the celebrity's first acting job. A close cousin of StuntCasting, only with a bit more risk, since the stunt castee doesn't have much experience (if any), and is practically carrying the project despite that inexperience.

* ArnoldSchwarzenegger was known mostly as a bodybuilder before the 1982 ''ConanTheBarbarian'' pushed him into Hollywood. Interestingly, the film also had Gerry Lopez (surfer) and Sandahl Bergman (dancer). And the best-forgotten sequel had singer GraceJones and basketball superstar WiltChamberlain.

* Veteran singer Tom Jones AsHimself in ''MarsAttacks!''

* Retired NFL players often find one role that kick-starts their acting career. Isaiah Mustafa, star of ''The Man Your Man Can Smell Like'' Old Spice ads, even mentions this ''in character'' in a few of the ads' short videos, referring to himself as a "struggling actor" while he's simultaneously become a household name and body.
* ''LockStockAndTwoSmokingBarrels'' was the screen debut of former football player Vinnie Jones, who would later become more known as an actor.

* O.J. Simpson made numerous stabs at acting in the 70's and 80's, without even having to cut his football career short to do it, but he absolutely ''slayed'' audiences in his role as Nordberg in the NakedGun movies.
* {{Bruce Springsteen}}'s guitarist Steve Van Zandt in TheSopranos.

* Reggie Jackson expressed interest in and was seriously considered for the role of Geordi LaForge on ''[[StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek: The Next Generation]].'' [[http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/08/star-trekcasting.html No, really!]]

* Reggie Jackson expressed interest in and was seriously considered for the role of Geordi LaForge on [[StarTrekTheNextGeneration]]. [[http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/08/star-trekcasting.html No, really!]]

* DavidBowie "perfectly cast as an androgynous extraterrestrial" (Joe Queenan) in ''[[TheManWhoFellToEarth The Man Who Fell to Earth]]''. He went on to appear in a number of supporting roles throughout the years.
* Probably the most infamously SoBadItsHorrible examples of this trope are the two big vehicles for Shaquille O'Neal; ''{{Kazaam}}'' and ''{{Film/Steel}}''.
** Also, Shaq in ''Blue Chips''.

* Probably the most infamously SoBadItsHorrible examples of this trope are the two big vehicles for {{Shaq}}; ''{{Kazaam}}'' and ''{{Film/Steel}}''.

* Shaquille O'Neal in ''Blue Chips''.

* Randy Couture in the [[DirectToVideo straight to DVD]] sequel to ''The Scorpion King'', subtitled "Rise Of A Warrior".

* TheBeatles in: A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, [[InkSuitActor Yellow Submarine]]... In fact, it was because of these movies that Ringo got his taste for acting.

* TheVillagePeople and Bruce Jenner in ''[[CantStopTheMusic Can't Stop the Music]]''.

----

* Probably the most infamously SoBadItsHorrible examples of this trope are the two big vehicles for {{Shaq}}; ''{{Kazaam}}'' and ''Film/Steel''.

* Probably the most infamously SoBadItsHorrible examples of this trope are the two big vehicles for {{Shaq}} ''{{Kazaam}}'' and ''{{Steel}}''.