Kathleen and I were chatting the other day about Justin Timberlake. We both agree that he needs to stop pursuing acting and just get back to the recording studio already. 

But, that doesn't seem to be on his radar. He is all about the acting. He's got quite the impressive filmography going on now. With a few hits and a lot of misses. And yet, he keeps on trying. 

It boggles my mind that a) he is so determined/delusional to be taken seriously as an actor and b) that people in the industry are taking him seriously, giving him shot after shot, from bit player to leading man.

Gawker put it best - he's not a good actor. But, he's not a bad actor, either. And one of his biggest hindrances is the simple fact that he's Justin Timberlake. As Kathleen put it, he's too big a celebrity to allow for the necessary suspension of disbelief that is required for watching movies (thanks Film Studies minor!)

So, this got me thinking that this is the same problem Madonna had whenever she tried her hand at acting. She's been in a bunch of movies, but the biggest criticism was that she just isn't a believable actress simply because she is Madonna. And the films where she was good in - Evita, Body of Evidence, Dick Tracy - she was successful because she was basically playing a version of herself.

Which is another detraction for JT's acting career. In The Social Network and Friends With Benefits, he's bascially playing a version of himself. And when he tries to veer away from that public image, as in The Southland Tales and The Love Guru, he's pointed out as the weakest link.

So, I think Justin needs to snap out of this acting phase already. If he's to learn anything from Madonna, it's that anything else they do will pale in comparison to their contributions to music. Well, except for when they work together.

Until then, he's just going to keep thinking we love him and that we're feeding his ego. Like this: