Their dancing skills were only the beginning. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at the most memorable roles that made dancers’ acting abilities impossible to ignore.
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00:00 "Hey, did you get my letter? I'm a terrific artist, huh?"
00:02 Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're looking at the most memorable roles that made
00:06 dancers' acting abilities impossible to ignore.
00:09 "Nobody cares who wins."
00:11 "I suppose you think you're going to."
00:13 "I might, it's the fastest car, you know."
00:15 10. Sarah Hay - Flesh and Bone
00:19 Prodigious American ballerina Sarah Hay clearly has a passion for acting.
00:24 A few years after leaping with the Zemperoper Ballet of Dresden, Germany,
00:29 she landed Flesh and Bone.
00:31 "I expect you to be the bell of the ball. You'll dazzle and enchant, yes?"
00:37 "I want everyone's eyes on you."
00:39 The Starz miniseries follows Claire Robbins' experiences with a renowned ballet company,
00:45 whose pressures push her to face her traumatic past.
00:48 Hay's own family, with such pressures, as well as her physical expressiveness,
00:53 informed an intense screen presence.
00:55 "Now let's see what else you can get."
00:57 "I'm sorry, I'm in the dark here."
00:59 "Play your cards right, you'll be in the spotlight. Ready for some choreography?"
01:04 Her grasp of the subtler psychological thrills stood out, and she commanded the screen.
01:09 Fittingly, she was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a Satellite Award.
01:13 She has since earned additional roles that have allowed her to expand her range.
01:17 In Flesh and Bone, though, there's no denying Hay's dynamic talent.
01:21 "She's brilliant."
01:22 "She slayed me."
01:23 "Wow."
01:24 "Feel the emotion, how is it you see her?"
01:27 "She has full pack."
01:28 9. Jennifer Lopez - Selena
01:30 Years before achieving pop stardom, Jennifer Lopez entered the entertainment industry as a backup dancer.
01:36 Then her tenure as a fly girl on In Living Color helped launch her on-screen career,
01:42 and her subsequent breakout as the eponymous character in Selena was truly earned.
01:47 "Are they gonna love me, Mama?"
01:49 "Yes, mija."
01:54 "They're gonna love you."
01:55 The biopic chronicles the life of Selena Quintanilla Perez, a.k.a. the Queen of Tejano Music.
02:03 The riveting and heartbreaking vulnerability with which Lopez embodies the part
02:07 has won her much praise, as well as a Golden Globe nomination.
02:11 "Remember when you told me that you felt like everybody's hopes and dreams were centered on you?
02:15 That means a lot to you, doesn't it?"
02:17 "It does."
02:19 It proved she could act, and also foreshadowed her rise as one of Latin pop's most recognizable stars.
02:26 She still makes time to foster her ever-prolific dancing, singing, and acting career today.
02:31 J.Lo has clearly served Selena's legacy in more ways than one.
02:35 "All those barriers that people have been trying to get past,
02:38 you went right through them as if they didn't exist.
02:43 Maybe for you they don't exist."
02:46 8. Ariana DeBose - West Side Story
02:48 Audiences first met Ariana DeBose as a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance.
02:55 She went on to blow up Broadway, while easing into movie and TV musicals.
02:59 Then everyone listened up after Steven Spielberg's West Side Story.
03:04 "In this great big beautiful Nueva York.
03:07 And if you think that I'm going back home to Puerto Rico with six kids that I put to bed hungry every night,
03:18 amor de mi vida, you are dreaming."
03:20 DeBose plays the fiery yet optimistic Anita, who's dating gang leader Bernardo.
03:26 As the Sharks and the Jets' war escalates, she tries to remain a voice of reason and resilience,
03:32 though she's ultimately pushed to her limit.
03:34 "You think I want to stay here in a city full of ugly little animals like you?
03:40 No gracias."
03:43 The musical epic went beyond a showcase of the actress' standout range in dancing and singing,
03:49 like it did for castmate Rita Moreno 60 years earlier.
03:53 It also won DeBose the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
03:57 Now she's as in-demand on the screen as she is on the stage.
04:01 "Move on your pint and put that in."
04:05 7. Bob Fosse - My Sister Eileen
04:09 Choreographer, dancer, and director extraordinaire Bob Fosse,
04:12 knew how to capture deeply human storytelling through movement and jazz.
04:17 But he could also act, and 1955's My Sister Eileen was his big break in film.
04:23 "I don't know if you know it or not, but this place is a real kind of hangout for people in show business."
04:29 "Oh really?"
04:30 "Sure. If I keep my ears open, I could pick up a lot of inside information about auditions and that kind of stuff."
04:38 In this musical flick, which he choreographed, Fosse also plays Frank Lippincott,
04:44 who falls in love with the title character as she seeks opportunity in New York.
04:49 The iconically cool Fosse really warms up in this romantic role when he isn't nailing his own snazzy routines.
04:56 Frank otherwise keeps the comedy grounded as its heart.
04:59 "I've heard a lot about Greenwich Village, but this is the first time I've ever been here."
05:07 Fosse had acted before this, but this emotional and physical flexibility stole the spotlight in My Sister Eileen.
05:14 Fosse's on-screen versatility alone proves the genius of his craft.
05:19 "There might be greater joy, but if there is, you tell me."
05:27 6. Leslie Caron - An American in Paris
05:31 Gene Kelly was in Paris when he was struck by one dancer in Roland Bouttie's Ballet Company.
05:36 His discovery later amazed the world in An American in Paris.
05:40 "I swear this is the first time I've ever done anything like this. Well, at least as a civilian. I just had to meet you."
05:47 Leslie Caron portrays Lise Bouvier, Kelly's love interest and source of conflict with a fellow artist.
05:54 She might initially seem like a typical plot device for an old Hollywood romance,
05:59 but Caron brings an enchanting wit and depth to Lise,
06:02 likely informed by her personal experiences in World War II-era Paris.
06:07 "During the war, my parents worked for the resistance. I was so young, they asked Henri to hide me.
06:13 And if he'd been caught, it would have been the end of him.
06:17 But for five years, he took care of me. He was all I had."
06:22 Her expressionistic dance with Kelly in the film's climax is still celebrated as a masterpiece.
06:28 Caron would continue to win acclaim across numerous genres throughout her acting career,
06:33 and it all started with some American walking into a ballet in Paris.
06:38 "All right, you win. It's my lunchtime, you can take me for lunch."
06:43 Number 5. Mikhail Buryshnikov - The Turning Point
06:46 "Oh, you're revolting. And about as subtle as she is.
06:50 You know, only this morning she came up to me and she said, 'Sir Villadary, you're the greatest prima ballerina in the whole world!'"
06:56 "No, I am!"
06:58 Few contemporary ballet dancers are as recognizable and celebrated as Mikhail Buryshnikov.
07:03 He certainly raises the credibility of the Golden Globe-winning dance drama The Turning Point.
07:09 He also holds his own with the stellar cast as Yuri, a womanizer who begins a relationship with a younger colleague.
07:16 "After supper?" "Bed." "Okay."
07:20 "And Ilya. He's German."
07:24 His performance is a dashing mix of commanding presence and vulnerability,
07:28 and he makes the most of his chemistry with fellow ballet dancer Leslie Brown.
07:32 The pair were themselves nominated for Golden Globes and Academy Awards.
07:36 Buryshnikov has since built a notable screen career, and in many ways, this is where it all began.
07:43 "Is it on?" "No! I personally think everyone should have the right to make their own choice.
07:49 I like yours." "My what?" "Your choice!"
07:54 Rosie Perez - Fearless
07:57 Rosie Perez's natural dance skill has always been impossible to ignore,
08:01 and allowed her to make her mark in the industry both as a dancer and choreographer.
08:05 A few years after exploding onto the screen in Do the Right Thing,
08:09 she took things to the next level in Peter Weir's Fearless.
08:13 "I'm not dead. Let me out."
08:19 Perez is Carla Rodrigo, who struggles to cope with a plane crash that claimed her child's life.
08:25 Her intense grief acts in contrast with the unstable euphoria of fellow survivor Max,
08:31 played by Jeff Bridges.
08:33 "You must think that I'm very stupid." "No, I'm not lying. I can't explain it, but you're safe with me."
08:42 "So what are you telling me? There's no God but there's you?"
08:47 Perez brings a subtle emotional complexity to the role that challenges veteran dramatist Bridges,
08:52 and the movie is better for it.
08:55 The part earned the typically comedic actress many accolades, including an Oscar nomination,
09:00 proving she's incredibly multi-talented.
09:02 "We'll be good enough, we're careful enough, we'll live forever, at least we can try."
09:06 Dorothy Dandridge - Carmen Jones
09:10 Dorothy Dandridge's singing and dancing continued to dazzle audiences after the end of The Dandridge Sisters.
09:17 Sadly, the limited opportunities for black actresses meant she didn't get the amount of recognition she deserved for some time.
09:24 Thankfully, that changed with a film adaptation of Hammerstein's Carmen Jones.
09:29 "I always did want to see the big town."
09:31 "You got your wish, honey. Something tells me Chicago's gonna be real good for you."
09:35 While Marilyn Horne dubs Dandridge's singing, the latter's passion as an actress is breathtaking.
09:42 Her vivacious, visceral portrayal of a tragic figure made her the first black woman ever nominated for the Best Actress Oscar.
09:49 "I love you, that gives me the right to-" "That'll give you no right to own me.
09:52 There's only one that does, and that's me, myself."
09:57 This was followed by several more powerful performances before Dandridge's untimely death in 1965.
10:03 Though she's gone, her name will live on in history forever.
10:07 "I'd follow you down the rivers or across the sea, to hell or up to heaven. Why'd you ask?"
10:15 "Just to hear you say it."
10:18 2. Liza Minnelli - Cabaret
10:21 The daughter of Judy Garland and director Vincent Minnelli would of course be a natural entertainer.
10:26 Song and dance starlet Liza Minnelli still earned her own place in the film industry with the acclaimed dramedy The Sterile Cuckoo.
10:34 But it was in Bob Fosse's Cabaret that she cemented her screen stardom.
10:39 "I suppose you're wondering what I'm doing working at a place like the Kit Kat Club."
10:42 "Well, it is a rather unusual place."
10:45 "That's me, darling, unusual places, unusual love affairs. I am a most strange and extraordinary person."
10:51 The drama explores Berlin bohemian life during the rise of Nazism.
10:56 From the perspective of American cabaret performer Sally Bowles,
11:00 Minnelli surely lights up the stage as Sally with iconic musical numbers,
11:04 but she also poignantly embodies Sally's eccentricities and devastating reckoning with reality.
11:10 "I'm self-centered, inconsiderate, and what was the third adjective?"
11:17 "Oh yes, and I have this infantile fantasy that one day I'll amount to something as an actress."
11:26 The performance won her an Oscar among many other awards.
11:30 Besides paving the way for her EGOT, Cabaret firmly established her explosive career on the cinematic frontier.
11:36 "I'm gonna be a great film star. That is if booze and sex don't get me first."
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11:58 Fred Astaire will always be known as one of classic Hollywood's biggest stars,
12:05 especially for his dancing with Ginger Rogers in musical comedies.
12:09 Rogers was notably able to stand on her own two acting feet with her Oscar-winning turn in Kitty Boyle.
12:15 But with On the Beach, a new generation was introduced to a new Astaire.
12:20 "You?" "Me? You needn't sound so pessimistic. I've always wanted to, just never could afford it."
12:27 He portrays Julian Osborn, a nuclear scientist whose developments have ushered in an apocalypse.
12:33 It's a part of immense remorse and anger, and Astaire doesn't miss a step.
12:38 "We fought, we expunged them. We didn't do such a bad job on ourselves.
12:43 With the interesting result that the background level of radiation in this very room is nine times what it was a year ago.
12:50 Don't you know that?"
12:52 The Golden Globe-nominated performance showed he could handle more serious roles,
12:56 bringing the house down even without dancing.
12:59 Of course, Astaire's musical stardom never faded,
13:02 but On the Beach remains a great revelation of the beloved dancer's reach as an actor.
13:07 "Lately with so little time left, my sense of value seemed to have changed."
13:12 What is your favorite acting performance by a dancer? Groove into the comments and let us know.
13:17 "I thought I was free as a bird, just hanging out for a while with another dancer. Tap dancer, right?"
13:25 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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13:33 [Music]