Every Christina Aguilera Movie & TV Show (Where She Didn't Play Herself) Ranked

Pop singer Christina Aguilera is most well known for her massive discography but she has shown off her acting skills in TV shows and movies.

Christina Aguilera is a pop star known for her impressive vocal range and gilded discography, but her work in movies and TV shows has also shown that Aguilera is capable of acting as well as she performs live. Most often, Aguilera appears as herself in TV shows and movies, making quick cameos in Herbie Hancock: Possibilities (2006), Shine a Light (2008), Get Him to the Greek (2010), Casa de mi Padre (2012), Pitch Perfect 2 (2015), and Life of the Party (2018). Aguilera is a bestselling album artist who has been a coach in six seasons of The Voice.

Beyond The Voice, Aguilera has appeared as herself on Star Search, The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, Beverly Hills 90210, Roswell, Christmas in Washington, Al Salir de Clase, Un Paso Adelante, Player$, Punk’d, Rock Legends: Platinum Weird, Project Runway, Conan, Entourage, RuPaul’s Drag Race, The Disney Family Singalong, Yearly Departed, and Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil. While Aguilera often plays herself, she has also appeared in animated and live-action movies as fictional characters. Her movies run the gambit from children’s animated films to adult dramas and while they aren’t always critically acclaimed, she is often one of the better parts of the movies and TV shows she’s in.

5 The Emoji Movie (2017)

The Emoji Movie is a Toy Story-inspired children’s animated film, and was one of several in the 2010s that gave personalities to toy-like characters and explored a world based on some sort of well-known property, such as The Lego Movie. While The Lego Movie had significantly more critical success than The Emoji Movie, the latter still earned almost $218 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo). Aguilera voices Akiko Glitter, the avatar of the “Just Dance” app, and she does an impressive job mimicking an extra-positive, extra-happy dance instructor from various video games and apps, though there is not much dialogue for her to work with.

4 Shark Tale (2008)

DreamWorks Animation produced Shark Tale with an ensemble cast including recognizable stars like Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Renée Zellweger, Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, and Martin Scorsese. The movie follows a fish who tricks a city into thinking he’s the "Sharkslayer" and the trouble he gets himself into while trying to hide that. It’s a fairly creative story brought down by some bad humor and only passable CGI, but the voice acting across the board is excellent. In particular, during the requisite end song that ends many animated movies, Aguilera appears as Jellyfish, who looks remarkably like the singer and belts out an impressive rendition of “Car Wash”.

3 Zoe (2018)

Ewan McGregor and Léa Seydoux star in Zoe, a romantic science fiction movie set in the near future where technology has not only created a system to determine if two people are romantically compatible but also created synthetic people who can think and feel as well as any human. Zoe (Seydoux) is one of these synthetics and when she falls in love with Cole (McGregor), the pair discover if two “people” can love even if they’re not considered compatible. The movie tackles large questions but sometimes its reach exceeds its grasp. Aguilera, Theo James (White Lotus), Rashida Jones (The Office), and Miranda Otto (Lord of the Rings) also star.

Jewels (Aguilera) is another of the synthetics though, unlike Zoe, she has been aware of that fact for much longer and floats through her life confidently but resigned. Aguilera is only briefly in the movie, but she’s given a significant scene in Zoe as a synthetic brothel employee who has to explain what it’s like to be with a human. Unlike Zoe, Jewels can’t feel certain human emotions, but she has enough to realize what she’s missing. The role is inherently robotic, but Aguilera still gives a wistful pathos to the character and even though Jewels lacks some emotions, she makes those she possesses feel real.

2 Nashville (2013-2018)

Nashville is a six-season musical drama series that ran on ABC. The show follows Rayna James (Connie Britton), a past-her-prime legendary country star, and Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere), a rising talent in the country music world. Nashville was nominated for a combined 5 Golden Globes and Primetime Emmys across its run and consistently received praise for its music and the lead performances of Britton and Panettiere. There is a significant supporting cast of actors and real-life singers who appear throughout the series in recurring roles. The narrative primarily focuses on Rayna and Juliette but occasionally new characters take center stage for some episodes.

In season 3 of Nashville, Aguilera plays Jade St. John, a former pop star who turns to country music in order to rehabilitate her image. She is only in four episodes, but she manages to make an impact with limited screen time (and a new brown hair color). Jade is a talented singer who is looking to get out of country music as soon as possible and return to Los Angeles. Aguilera gets two fantastic musical numbers that showcase her always impressive musical ability, and her acting fits in very well with the tone of the show. She brings her own energy without being a jarring presence.

1 Burlesque (2010)

Aguilera’s first starring role in a movie comes in the semi-true Burlesque, a backstage musical film that also costars Cher. In Burlesque, Aguilera's Alice "Ali" Marilyn Rose (Aguilera) is a young small-town waitress who dreams of becoming a professional dancer. She moves to Los Angeles and gets a job dancing burlesque at a nightclub owned by Tess Scali (Cher). Alice quickly becomes one of the star performers and her success creates friends and enemies played by Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci, Cam Gigandet, and Dianna Agron. The movie has many music movie clichés and some clumsy dialogue. It did not perform well critically and has a 37% on Rotten Tomatoes.

However, Aguilera’s performance is a bright spot in a movie that has since become a camp classic. The amount of singing and dancing the role requires is easy enough for Aguilera to accomplish well, but it’s her acting that’s truly impressive, especially considering this is her first major role. Aguilera goes from impressive and showy in her musical numbers to relatable and down-to-earth in the smaller acting moments without skipping a beat. Acting against industry heavyweights like Tucci and Bell is not easy and Christina Aguilera shares the screen admirably. It’s one of the more impressive acting turns by a singer and a signifier of her inherent talent to perform.