With Meryl Streep rocking’ the screen as Ricki, front woman of The Flash, we were curious to find out what other actors had been bitten by the pop bug and shared the experience with us. These are some of them.

Almost Famous, dir. Cameron Crowe, 2000

Who: Billy Crudup
Playing: Russell Hammond, lead guitarist of the fictitious band Stillwater, a thinly disguised version of The Allman Brothers, who Crowe did follow and interview in his years as a budding reporter for Rolling Stone. Russell is modeled after Glenn Frey of the Eagles, another band that Crowe covered in the 1970s.
Motto: “I am a golden god!”
Bonus: Philip Seymour Hoffman as a spot-on Lester Bangs, the rock journalist who invented rock journalism.
What Billy told us: “More than anything (Cameron Crowe) wanted me to play a guy who was somebody that liked music in high school. He was somebody who was probably, you know, in band; who played the clarinet in band and then he’d go home and he’d sit in his room and had really pale skin and hair hung over his eyes and sort of a dork and he becomes a rock star.”

All is By My Side, dir. John Riley, 2013

Who: André Benjamin
Playing: Jimi Hendrix on the cusp of becoming a super rock star, making the move from New York to London at the height of the Swinging’ Sixties.
Motto: “When the power of love takes over the love of power, that’s when things will change.”
Bonus: Ashley Charles as a pre-self-destructing Keith Richards, Robbie Jarvis as rock mogul extraordinaire Andrew Loog Oldham and Andrew Buckley as Chas Chandler, the musician who left The Animals to became Hendix’s manager.
What André told us: “Halfway doing the shoot I would ask myself sometimes, why did I get myself involved? (laughter) Like what made me think that I could actually play Jimi Hendrix, because he’s the unplayable.”
Love & Mercy, dir. Bill Pohlad, 2014

Who: Paul Dano
Playing: Beach Boy maestro supreme Brian Wilson at the zenith of his powers as composer, arranger and musician, working on his masterpiece, the album Pet Sounds.
Motto: “Play it again. Again. Again.”
Bonus: Graham Rogers as a very, very mean Al Jardine.
What Paul told us: “We started filming in the studio and it was actually the studio that Brian recorded Pet Sounds back in the 60s. So in the spirit of Brian, I did try to summon any ghosts or angels that might come visit us again because he sort of felt connected to something bigger than himself while he was in there during that time. That week and a half in the studio was probably the most fun I have ever had acting.”

Nowhere Boy, dir. Sam Taylor-Wood, 2009

Who: Aaron Johnson
Playing: Teenager John Lennon, living in Liverpool with his strict Aunt Mimi and hanging out with a bunch of aspiring musicians, including some guys named Paul and George.
Motto: “Why couldn’t God make me Elvis?”
Bonus: Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Game of Thrones’ Jojen Reed) as Paul; Kristin Scott-Thomas as Aunt Mimi.
What Aaron told us: “I’d look at YouTube clips of like, you know, old footage of Lennon and try and sort of get an essence of that in those first few minutes. I had big bushy hair so then I had to slick it back and look a bit more 50s,
a bit more rock and roll.”
The Rose, dir. Mark Rydell, 1979

Who: Bette Midler, Golden Globe winner for Best Actress, Musical/Comedy and New Star of the Year.
Playing: Tragic rock/blues superstar Mary Rose Foster, aka The Rose, aka a very thinly disguised Janis Joplin.
Motto: “We are waitresses at the banquet of life!”
Bonus: The theme song “The Rose”, composed by Amanda McBroom, which won the Golden Globe in the category, became a Top Ten hit and made its way as far as one dreamy scene in the second season of True Detective.
What Bette told us: “I don’t think I have as much pain in my life as she did but I’ve had enough pain that I could remember, you know, and go when the scene called for it, go to those memories which are still very, very fresh in my mind.”
That Thing You Do, dir. Tom Hanks, 1996

Who: Steve Zahn
Playing: One of the founders of the fictiticious band The Wonders, Erie, Pensylvania’s response to the British Invasion of the 1960s.
Motto: “Hey, wasn’t that our fan?”
Bonus: Tom Hanks as Mr. White, the band’s long-suffering manager; Charlize Theron as Tina, girlfriend of the band’s drummer, an avid jazz aficionado.
What Steve told us: “It took us four hours to tune up the first day, which is embarassing but, you know, you got to do that if you’ve never done that before.”

Ray, dir. Taylor Hackford, 2004

Who: Jamie Foxx, Golden Globe for Best Actor, Comedy/Musical
Playing: R&B giant Ray Charles
Motto: “Don’t jive me, man!”
Bonus: Larenz Tate as Quincy Jones, Curtis Armstrong as record industry mogul Ahmet Ertegun.
What Jamie told us: “The first thing I did was to lose weight. Taylor Hackford said you have to lose weight because in the 40s and 50s there was no fitness trend, no working-out, there was no steroids, anything like that.”
Get On Up, dir. Tate Taylor, 2014

Who: Chadwick Boseman
Playing: The Godfather of Soul, James Brown
Motto: “Does it sound good? Does it feel good?”
Bonus: Viola Davis as James Brown’s mother, Susie; Octavia Spencer as his aunt, Honey
What Chadwick told us: “I thought that it was impossible to do and nobody should even touch that role. I got over the fear in dance rehearsal. I just threw myself into the work of learning how to dance, learning his vocabulary and it was just a step by step process.”
Ana Maria Bahiana