Madonna filmography

Madonna
Madonna promoting her documentary I'm Going to Tell You a Secret in 2005.
Born	Madonna Louise Ciccone August 16, 1958 (1958-08-16) Bay City, Michigan, U.S.
Years active	1979 - present

American entertainer Madonna started her film career in 1979 in the low budget feature A Certain Sacrifice. Since then she has starred in numerous independent and Hollywood motion pictures, the majority of which have been box office failures. She has also appeared in three starring theatre roles, numerous television commercials and directed her debut motion picture Filth and Wisdom in 2008. In 1997 she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for her role in Evita. In 2012, she won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song for "Masterpiece".

Motion pictures

In 1979, Madonna starred in low-budget feature A Certain Sacrifice. Its release in 1985 coincided with the success of her Like a Virgin album, and Madonna tried to prevent its release. That same year, Madonna made a small cameo appearance as a club singer in the film Vision Quest singing Crazy for You; then garnered commercial and critical success in Susan Seidelman's Desperately Seeking Susan, a story of a housewife who is fascinated with a woman she only knows by reading messages in the personals section of a New York City tabloid. It was a commercial success and grossed $27 million in the United States alone.

Madonna then appeared in the adventure drama Shanghai Surprise (1986) with then-husband Sean Penn. The film was dismissed by moviegoers and received poor reviews, many of them calling her acting wooden. Subsequent films such as Who's That Girl (1987) and Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989) failed to attract commercial or critical success. She was the first choice for the role of "Susie Diamond" in The Fabulous Baker Boys, but famously rejected the part claiming it was "too mushy". This proved to be an unwise decision on her part because the film turned out to be a box-office success and it brought Michelle Pfeiffer to even greater fame.

In 1990, Madonna received good reviews for her turn as Breathless Mahoney in Dick Tracy, directed by Warren Beatty and based on Chester Gould's comic strip. Beatty would later surface again in the 1991 documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare (aka In Bed With Madonna) which showed the behind the scenes to the 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour. In December 1990, it was announced that Madonna had pulled out of the controversial Jennifer Lynch film Boxing Helena.

In 1992, Madonna released two movies. The first was a cameo appearance as a trapeze artist in Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog. The black and white film was an homage to German Expressionist cinema, backed by the music of Kurt Weill. She also starred in Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own opposite Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Rosie O'Donnell. The film centered on a women's baseball team during World War II and earned Madonna good reviews. It was a big commercial success worldwide especially in North America.

Following the media backlash caused by her Sex book and its companion album Erotica, Madonna starred in the 1993 erotic thriller Body of Evidence with Willem Dafoe and Anne Archer. It was panned by critics and performed poorly at the box office. It caused great controversy in the media due to the explicit sexual content. Later that year, she starred in Dangerous Game opposite Harvey Keitel and James Russo. Considered nihilistic and violent, it was released straight to home video. Madonna did however, receive good reviews. Madonna has remarked her dislike of the end result saying of the director Abel Ferrara: "He fucked me over. .. however, I am good in it." This was also the first movie production from Madonna's entertainment company Maverick.

In 1995, Madonna almost got the role of the drug addicted Ginger McKenna in Martin Scorsese's, Casino, though she had secured the role, she lost the part at the last minute to Sharon Stone, who convinced Scorsese to cast her instead. Madonna played a cameo, singing telegram girl in Wayne Wang's Blue in the Face and a witch in Four Rooms. She also made another cameo appearance as a phone sex company owner in Spike Lee's Girl 6 in 1996. Later that year Madonna starred as Eva Perón in the film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita. The film marked the first time in America since Desperately Seeking Susan that she was praised for her acting. Madonna had campaigned for the role for nearly ten years and, in December 1994, she wrote a four-page, handwritten letter to director Alan Parker explaining that she would be perfect to play the role. Parker agreed and Madonna took voice lessons to extend her range and researched the life of her character. In January 1997, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but failed to receive a nomination at the Academy Awards, though the song "You Must Love Me" won the Oscar for Best Song. Both "You Must Love Me" and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" were hit singles.

Madonna's follow-up to Evita was another critically panned role as Abbie, a woman who decides to have a baby with her gay best friend, in the film The Next Best Thing (2000) directed by John Schlesinger. In America, the film started off strong on its opening week with $15 million, but this quickly diminished.

Swept Away followed in 2002, and was another critical and commercial failure. The remake of an Italian film by Lina Wertmüller in 1975 was the first big screen collaboration between Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie. It received seven Razzie Award nominations, winning five including Worst Actress for Madonna. The movie was only released to a few hundred cinemas in America and was released straight-to-video in Europe. Later that year, Madonna had a short cameo appearance in the James Bond film Die Another Day, and also sang the theme song. In the movie, Madonna played a fencing instructor named Verity who taught at a British academy.

During the 2004 Re-Invention World Tour, a documentary entitled I'm Going to Tell You a Secret was filmed by Jonas Akerlund, showing behind the scenes footage of the tour. It was premiered on MTV in November 2005. In late 2004, she provided the voice of Princess Selenia in the animated film Arthur and the Invisibles, which was released in January 2007. It was directed by Luc Besson and has been a commercial success worldwide with two sequels already in the planning.

She had originally been selected to play the title role in Music of the Heart, however she was replaced by Meryl Streep two weeks before filming began.

Madonna regularly lends her support to films that personally interest her such as Fahrenheit 9/11 and Slumdog Millionaire. She also supported ex-husband Sean Penn in his Best Male Actor Award for Milk at the 2009 Academy Awards.

Filmography

Motion pictures

This is a chronologically-ordered list of films which have starred American award-winning actress Madonna. Included in this list are her appearances as an actress in a leading role, supporting actress and cameo appearances.

Year	Film	Role	Director	Studio	Notes	US Box Office
1979	A Certain Sacrifice	Bruna	Stephen Jon Lewicki	Cine Cine Productions	Leading Role, released in 1985 at the height of Madonna's fame	N/A
1985	Vision Quest	Singer	Harold Becker	Warner Bros.	Cameo appearance, includes the songs "Crazy for You" and "Gambler"	$12,993,175
	Desperately Seeking Susan	Susan	Susan Seidelman	Orion	Supporting role, includes the song "Into the Groove"	$27,398,584
1986	Shanghai Surprise	Gloria Tatlock	Jim Goddard	HandMade Films	Leading role	$2,315,683
1987	Who's That Girl	Nikki Finn	James Foley	Warner Bros.	Leading role, includes the song "Who's That Girl"	$7,305,209
1989	Bloodhounds of Broadway	Hortense Hathaway	Howard Brookner	Columbia, American Playhouse	Supporting role, ensemble cast	$43,671
1990	Dick Tracy	Breathless Mahoney	Warren Beatty	Touchstone, Walt Disney	Supporting role, includes the Academy Award winning song "Sooner or Later"	$103,738,726
1992	Shadows and Fog	Marie	Woody Allen	Orion	Supporting role, ensemble cast	$2,735,731
	A League of Their Own	Mae Mordabito	Penny Marshall	Columbia	Supporting role, includes the song "This Used to Be My Playground"	$107,533,928
1993	Body of Evidence	Rebecca Carlson	Uli Edel	MGM, Dino de Laurentiis	Leading role	$13,273,595
	Dangerous Game (aka Snake Eyes)	Sarah Jennings	Abel Ferrara	Cecchi Gori, Maverick Films	Leading role, first production from Madonna's production company Maverick Films	$23,671
1995	Blue in the Face (aka Brooklyn Boogie)	Singing Telegram	Paul Auster and Wayne Wang	Miramax Films, Buena Vista	Cameo appearance, ensemble cast	$1,268,636
	Four Rooms	Elspeth	Allison Anders	Miramax Films, Buena Vista	Supporting role, "The Missing Ingredient" segment	$4,257,354
1996	Girl 6	Boss #3	Spike Lee	20th Century Fox	Cameo appearance	$4,939,939
	Evita	Eva Perón	Alan Parker	Hollywood, Cinergi	Leading role, winner of 1997 Golden Globe for Best Actress and Best Film (Musical or Comedy)	$50,047,179
2000	The Next Best Thing	Abbie Reynolds	John Schlesinger	Lakeshore, Paramount	Leading role, includes the song "American Pie"	$14,990,582
2002	Swept Away	Amber Leighton	Guy Ritchie	Screen Gems, Columbia	Leading role	$598,645
	Die Another Day	Verity	Lee Tamahori	MGM, Danjaq Inc.	Cameo appearance, includes the song "Die Another Day"	$160,942,139
2006	Arthur and the Minimoys (aka Arthur and the Invisibles)	Princess Selenia	Luc Besson	EuropaCorp, Weinstein Company, Lionsgate	Voice–only role in the English language version of the animation	$15,132,763

Directing

This is a list of features directed by Madonna. She began directing in 2007 with the TV commercial campaign for her fashion collection M by Madonna for H&M. Her most recent venture is the 2011 motion picture W.E. which was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards.

Year	Title	Genre	Studio	Notes
2007	M by Madonna	TV commercial	H&M	advertisement for the H&M collection designed by Madonna. Includes the song "Purdy" by William Orbit
2008	Filth and Wisdom	Feature film	Semtex Films, HSI London	Debut feature "short-film", starring Eugene Hutz and featuring the music of his band Gogol Bordello
2010	Miu Miu 2010	TV commercial	Miu Miu	Madonna accidentally directed the Autumn/Winter commercial after turning up on set to meet the photographers. It stars models Lindsey Wixson, Siri Tollerød, Ginta Lapina, and Daphne Groeneveld
2011	W.E.	Feature film	Semtex Films, The Weinstein Company, StudioCanal	Debut motion picture, starring Andrea Riseborough as Wallis Simpson and James D'Arcy as King Edward VIII.

Documentaries

This is a list of documentaries which are officially associated with Madonna. Her debut Truth or Dare (aka In Bed With Madonna) in 1991, became the highest-grossing documentary of all-time and was followed by I'm Going to Tell You a Secret in 2005. She has also produced three short-films in reference to other tours and narrated and produced the 2008 documentary on the orphans of Malawi, I Am Because We Are.

Year	Title	Director	Studio	Notes
1991	Truth or Dare (aka In Bed With Madonna)	Alek Keshishian	Boy Toy, Inc., Miramax Films, Dino de Laurentiis	Feature-length documentary Filmed during the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990, contains footage from the Paris shows Highest-grossing documentary of all-time at time of release
1992	Sex	Fabien Baron	Baron & Baron, Inc.	Short-film Filmed during the making of the book and footage was later included in the music video for the single "Erotica" (1992). A copy of the VHS was given to guests at the album release party for her Erotica album Also known as Sex – The Video and The Making of Sex
2005	Confessions on a Promo Tour	David Cadan	HSI, Exposure Films, Cheeky Boy Films	Short-film Filmed during the rehearsals for the Hung Up Promo Tour to promote the album Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005)
2005	I'm Going to Tell You a Secret	Jonas Åkerlund	Maverick Films, River Road Entertainment, Lucky Lou Productions	Feature-length documentary Filmed during the Re-Invention World Tour in 2004, contains footage from the Paris shows and was later released on CD and DVD in 2006.
2006	Confessions Tour: Behind the Scenes	Nathan Rissman	Semtex Films	Short-film Filmed during the Confessions Tour in 2006, later included as a bonus feature on the CD and DVD release The Confessions Tour (2007)
2008	I Am Because We Are	Nathan Rissman	Semtex Films, HSI	Feature-length documentary Written, narrated and produced by Madonna with music by long-time collaborator Patrick Leonard.
2010	Sticky & Sweet World Tour - Behind the Scenes	Nathan Rissman	Semtex Films, HSI	Short-film Filmed during the Sticky & Sweet Tour in 2008, later included as a bonus feature on the CD and DVD release Sticky & Sweet Tour (2010)

Concert TV specials

Year	Title	Director	Country of origin	Broadcaster	Notes
1987	Madonna Who's That Girl – Live in Japan: A Mitsubishi Special	Egbert van Hees	Japan	unknown	Live from Tokyo, Japan and broadcast on June 22, 1987 First Japanese broadcast in Dolby Digital surround sound Later available commercially in Japan on VHS and Laserdisc
	Madonna in Concerto	Mitchell Sinoway	Italy	Rai Uno	Live from Turin, Italy on September 4, 1987 Presented by Estate Rock, Edizione Straordinaria, Rai Uno, David Zard and Coca-Cola It was later shown in France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Australia and the Netherlands Released commercially as Ciao, Italia! – Live from Italy in 1988.
1990	Madonna – Blond Ambition Japan Tour 90	Mark "Aldo" Miceli	Japan	unknown	Live from Yokohama, Japan on April 27, 1990 Presented by Warner-Pioneer, it was only broadcast and released commercially in Japan on VHS and Laserdisc.
	Madonna Live! – Blond Ambition World Tour 90	David Mallet, Mark "Aldo" Miceli	United Kingdom	Sky Movies	Live from Barcelona Olympic Stadium, Spain on August 1, 1990 Broadcast in the UK on Sky Movies and in Europe by SACIS-RAI, it was later shown in Australia and Canada.
	Madonna Live! – Blond Ambition World Tour 90	David Mallet	United States	HBO	Live from Nice, France on August 5, 1990 and broadcast live on HBO Released commercially as Live! – Blond Ambition World Tour 90, exclusively on Pioneer Laserdisc.
1993	Madonna Live in Japan 1993 – The Girlie Show	Mark "Aldo" Miceli	Japan	unknown	Live from Fukuoka, Japan on December 7, 1993 Broadcast only in Japan and was never released commercially
	Madonna Live Down Under – The Girlie Show	Mark "Aldo" Miceli	United States	HBO	Live from Sydney, Australia November 19, 1993 Broadcast on HBO and later shown in Germany and on UK TV in the UK Released commercially as The Girlie Show – Live Down Under in 1994
2001	Madonna Live! – Drowned World Tour 2001	Hamish Hamilton	United States	HBO	Live from Detroit, United States on August 26, 2001 Broadcast live on HBO and later released as Drowned World Tour 2001 on VHS and DVD
2006	Madonna – Confessions Tour: Live from London	Jonas Åkerlund	United States	NBC	Live from London, UK on August 15 and 16, 2006 After plans failed with HBO, it was aired on November 22, 2006 on NBC and later on Channel 4 in the UK. It was released commercially in 2007 as The Confessions Tour on CD and DVD.
2009	Madonna – Sticky & Sweet Tour	Nick Wickham, Nathan Rissman	United Kingdom	Sky1	Live from Buenos Aires, Argentina on December 7–8, 2008 Sky1 acquired the rights to broadcast the show on July 4, 2009 on the opening night of the 2009 leg of the tour In the United States, it was made available to watch on the Epix television channel, as a video-on-demand. It was released commercially in 2010.

Commercials

Madonna has starred in various international television commercials (see below), as well as high profile print advertising for Versace clothing (1995, 2005), Ebel watches (1998), H&M clothing (featuring the crew from her Confessions Tour, 2006), Louis Vuitton bags (2009) and Dolce & Gabbana (2010).

Year	Company	Promoting	#	Theme	Soundtrack	Country
1986–87	Mitsubishi	Hi-Fi systems/VHS recorders	4	Madonna dances in each video	"True Blue" "La Isla Bonita", "Causing a Commotion" and "Spotlight"	Japan
1989	Pepsi-cola	soft drink beverage	1	"Make a wish", childhood birthday part; withdrawn after "Like a Prayer" music video controversy	"Like a Prayer"	International
1989–91	Elleseine (エルセーヌ)	beauty treatments/products	2	"Pure Madonna"; Madonna with baby and "Elephant"; Madonna showgirl with circus elephant	"Spanish Eyes" and "Rescue Me"	Japan
1990	Rock the Vote	American elections 1990	1	Madonna dressed in American flag and underwear with two back-up dancers	"Vogue"	United States
1995	Takara Shuzo	Shochu rice beverage	2	"I'm Pure" and "I'm Still Pure"; Samurai Madonna, Japanese Mythology	"Broken" (unreleased Madonna song)	Japan
1999	Max Factor	make-up	3	"Max Factor Gold"; Madonna getting her make-up done	"Ray of Light"	International
2001	Microsoft Windows XP	computer operating system	1	everyday life; song only used - Madonna did not star	"Ray of Light"	International
2001	BMW	automobiles	1	The Hire: Star short film for BMWfilms.com; directed by Guy Ritchie, co-starring Clive Owen	"Song 2" by Blur	International
2003	Gap	clothing	1	"A New Groove, A New Jean"; break-dancing, jeans; starring with Missy Elliott	"Into the Hollywood Groove"	International
2003	Estée Lauder	perfume	1	"Beyond Paradise" cross-promoted with the "Love Profusion" single; directed by Luc Besson; nature, flowers	"Love Profusion"	International
2005	Motorola	Motorola ROKR E1 with iTunes phone	1	"Phone Booth" musicians fitting into a phone booth; co-starring Iggy Pop and Little Richard	"Hung Up"	International
2007	H&M	clothing range	3	"M by Madonna"; finding the "It" in fashion; directed by Madonna	"Purdy" by William Orbit	International
2007	Brillia Mare Ariake	apartment complex	2	nature, family, construction; "Beyond Borders" and "Think Family" directed by Steven Klein	none	Japan
2008	Sunsilk	Hair care products	2	animation of images and videos of Madonna	"Ray of Light" and "4 Minutes"	United States
2010	Dolce & Gabbana	MDG Sunglasses	1	Madonna with a young man wearing MDG sunglasses	"Revolver"	Internet

Documentaries

In 1991, Madonna released her first documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare (named In Bed With Madonna outside North America). Directed by Alek Keshishian, the film followed Madonna on her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour. It featured black and white backstage scenes and live performances filmed in color. The documentary was released in North America by Miramax Films and grossed more than $15 million in the U.S. alone. While criticized for being manufactured, the film offered insights into Madonna's relationship with then-boyfriend Warren Beatty and showed her admitting that ex-husband Sean Penn was the love of her life. Madonna deeply dislikes the title of In Bed With Madonna and has expressed in interviews that it is a "stupid title". The original title of the documentary was "Truth or Dare: On The Road, Behind The Scenes and In Bed With Madonna".

In 1992, behind the scenes footage was filmed by Fabien Baron during the making of the book Sex. This footage was shown at the launch party of the book, and has since been leaking on the internet. It includes many of the images used in the "Erotica" music video accompanied by 1920s music. It was handed out to 100 special guests at the launch and is listed on www.imdb.com as a documentary. It is sometimes known as The Making of Sex.

In 2005, a short internet documentary Confessions on a Promo Tour was created to promote the release of the album Confessions on a Dance Floor. It featured behind-the-scenes footage of the rehearsals for the Hung Up Promo Tour. The documentary was produced by HSI, Exposure Films and Cheeky Boy Films. It was directed by Dan Cadan, produced by Melissa Thomas and executive produced by Nicola Doring.

Later that year, Madonna released her second full-length documentary, I'm Going to Tell You a Secret, followed her and her family on the 2004 Re-Invention World Tour in 2004. Directed by long-time collaborator Jonas Åkerlund, it premiered commercial free on MTV in the US on October 21, 2005. It was released on DVD June 20, 2006 with a bonus audio CD.

In 2006, a second short internet documentary Confessions Tour: Behind the Scenes was created for the Confessions Tour website. It featured behind-the-scenes footage from the tour and rehearsals. The film was later released as an extra on the 2007 DVD and live album release The Confessions Tour.

Later that year, Madonna announced that she was funding a documentary about Malawi and it was through viewing this footage that she first saw David Banda, whom she has since adopted. The film is called I Am Because We Are and was released in 2008, directed by Nathan Rissman and produced, narrated and starring Madonna.

In 2010, Madonna released the DVD and live album Sticky & Sweet Tour which included the bonus feature, Sticky & Sweet World Tour - Behind the Scenes, a short documentary shot in 2008 on the Sticky & Sweet Tour and included rehearsals and backstage footage, including scenes with Pharrell Williams, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland on stage. The short was directed by Nathan Rissman.

On stage

In 1986 Madonna appeared in a workshop of Goose and TomTom written by David Rabe and directed by Gregory Mosher, Madonna played "Gum chewing gun moll" Lorraine and starred along her then-husband Sean Penn and Harvey Keitel.

In 1988 Madonna made her Broadway debut in David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow, which was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. While generally receiving negative notes, the New York Times congratulated her for the "intelligent, scrupulously disciplined comic acting."

In 2002, she made a London West End theatre debut in a version of Australian plawright David Williamson's play Up For Grabs. The setting was relocated from Sydney to New York. Generally criticised for her lack of technical ability, a critic used in his review a line from the play: "If you think a big marketing budget will sell any old junk, you'd be wrong. It's got to be quality junk".

External links

• Madonna at the Internet Movie Database
• Madonna at AllRovi