Sixteen-year-old pop sensation Justin Bieber has been everywhere in 2010—on the Billboard charts, on CSI, and on the locker of many a tween girl across America. But this week, Paramount Pictures announced Bieber would be popping up in the ultimate medium—a 3-D film about his life, Deadline Hollywood reported. Though he's been alive for only slightly longer than a decade and a half, the heartthrob, who plans to play himself, will tell the tale of his journey. Although An Inconvenient Truth's Oscar-winning director, David Guggenheim, was rumored to get behind the camera for the Bieber biopic, which comes out on February 11, 2011, he has since reportedly bailed on the project. Still, the show will go on, and just as the lyrics of Beiber's hit first single, "One Time," say, many hearts will go "knock knock" in theaters next Valentine's Day.
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George Alan O'Dowd, better known as Boy George, was not one to shy away from the spotlight as the lead singer of his 1980s band Culture Club. In 2002, however, when the musical Taboo, which he wrote based on his rise to fame, opened in London, he opted to star—but not as himself. George instead took on the part of Australia-born performance artist Leigh Bowery. "The most original presence in the show is Mr. O'Dowd," The New York Times reviewed. "Mr. O'Dowd redefines his old acquaintance on his own terms and in ways that have little to do with the standard Boy George persona." Clearly venturing out of one's comfort zone does have its benefits.
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If ever they wanted the opportunity to right their wrongs, mother-daughter duo Joan and Melissa Rivers got it in their 1994 made-for-television saga Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story. But why they would want to reenact their stages of grief after the 1987 suicide of Rivers' husband, Edgar Rosenberg, is quite baffling. Entertainment Weekly offered a bit of insight with their review at the time: "From the opening sequence, in which shots of Joan in a hospital for a liposuction operation are contrasted with scenes of Rosenberg overdosing on pills and liquor, you realize that Tears and Laughter will be absolutely shameless." Dignity issues aside, the incredibly personal story seems not nearly as painstaking as the elder, more-nipped-and-tucked Rivers' recent documentary, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.
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Italian-born actress Sophia Loren has played in many highly acclaimed movies, from Man of La Mancha to Nine. But the one she was best prepared for was that of herself in NBC's 1980 made-for-television biopic, Sohpia Loren: Her Own Story, adapted from her autobiography of the same name. Though two actresses were cast to play the Oscar-winning performer at earlier ages, Loren took on the challenge of playing both herself and her mother, Romilda Villani, in the TV movie. Nearly three decades later, Loren once again went biographical. In 2009 for La Mia Casa E Piena A Di Specchi ( My House Is Full of Mirrors), based on the book by Loren's sister, Anna Maria Scicolone, the then-75-year-old actress played her mother again, while young star Margareth Made acted as Loren. That's typecasting you just can't help.
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Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball with his enormous hitting ability, but he displayed other skills as well when he chose to star in the movie version of his life. The Jackie Robinson Story premiered at the beginning of the 1950's baseball season. It was the height of Robinson's career—right after he won the National League batting title and was 1949's Most Valuable Player, according to Time. As for his performance on screen, The New York Times reviewed that Robinson had a "calm assurance and composure that might be envied by many a Hollywood star." The movie also starred another trailblazer—actress Ruby Dee, who participated in the civil-rights movement and later earned an Oscar nod for American Gangster, played his wife, Rachel.
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Jackie Robinson wasn't the first baseball great to play himself off the field and on the screen: Babe Ruth starred as himself in the 1920 silent film Headin' Home, which served mainly to promote Ruth's then-fledgling career. The plot revolved around a young man named Babe who hits a ball that soars five blocks, smashes a church window, and is discovered, according to The New York Times' review. Though it was not much of a stretch, the movie was only the beginning for Ruth's acting career. The Hall of Famer later appeared in a number of films, including Speedy, Perfect Control, Over the Fence, and Pride of the Yankees.
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