Years after learning that Scott Stapp welcomed the chance to play Frank Sinatra in a Ronald Reagan biopic with arms wide open, we have our first at the Creed frontman in action.
Billboard has shared a look at Stapp portraying the celebrated crooner in Reagan, the Sean McNamara-directed film which opens in theatres tomorrow (August 30).
In Reagan, Stapp performs as Sinatra in a scene set at Hollywood’s famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub, at a time when Reagan was president of the Screen Actors Guild. Just imagine him stretching out the held notes of “My Way” in his often imitated, never duplicated Floridian fashion.
Stapp will also feature on the film’s accompanying soundtrack, covering the Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke-authored pop standard “Swinging on a Star.” Originally performed by Bing Crosby in 1944, the song would be recorded by Sinatra 20 years later for his 1964 album Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners.
“Sinatra in performance mode was an exercise in restraint,” Stapp previously shared in a statement. “He had this steely, stylish swagger and his sheer presence commanded a room. I was excited to join the cast and blown away by the on-set attention to detail, style, and overall production.”
Stapp may not be as seamless a fit for Sinatra as, say, Benedict Cumberbatch and Pete Seeger, but his experience in the role could earn him a call from Martin Scorsese should his long-gestating Sinatra biopic ever get off the ground.
As previously reported, Stapp can be seen as himself in Toronto this fall on Creed’s fall North American tour.
