Madonna Filmography
Her first foray documented into screen acting, is a one-minute student film called The Egg (filmed around 1974 or 1976). In 1979, before her breakthrough, she made her acting debut in the low-budget feature A Certain Sacrifice; its release was delayed for several years until 1985 to capitalize on the popularity of her second studio album, Like a Virgin. That same year, she made a cameo appearance as a club singer in the film Vision Quest; and garnered commercial and critical success for the title role in Susan Seidelman's Desperately Seeking Susan, which was her first major screen role. The following year, she made her theatrical debut in David Rabe's Goose and Tom-Tom and her first commercial for Mitsubishi in Japan. She also starred opposite her then-husband actor Sean Penn in the adventure drama Shanghai Surprise (1986), which was panned by critics and earned Madonna her first Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. Her follow-up films Who's That Girl (1987) and Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989) were also critical and commercial failures. She teamed with Pepsi-Cola in 1989 for a commercial to launch the single "Like a Prayer", but the commercial was revoked and her contract with Pepsi cancelled due to controversy surrounding the song's music video.
In 1990, Madonna starred as Breathless Mahoney in Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy, an adaption of Chester Gould's comic strip starring the character of the same name. Starring opposite Beatty and Al Pacino, Madonna received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actress. The following year, the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare showcased Madonna behind the scenes of her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour and became the highest-grossing documentary of all time at that point. She also received positive reviews for her role in the ensemble sports comedy-drama A League of Their Own (1992), which centered on a women's baseball team during World War II. However, her performance in the erotic thriller Body of Evidence was widely panned, and the film was a commercial failure. She cameoed in several films over the next few years, such as Blue in the Face (1995) and Spike Lee's Girl 6 (1996), until starring in the 1996 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita. Her performance as Eva Perón was acclaimed by critics and won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
Following a musical comeback in the late 1990s, Madonna again returned to acting with the romantic comedies The Next Best Thing (2000) and Swept Away (2002), the latter of which was a remake of Lina Wertmüller's Italian film of the same name directed by her then-husband director Guy Ritchie. Both films were critical and commercial failures, with Swept Away earning Madonna another Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. She also had a cameo appearance in and performed the theme song of the James Bond film Die Another Day (2002) and guest starred on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace in April 2003. In 2006, she made her final major acting appearance to date with a voice role in Arthur and the Invisibles.
In the 2000s, Madonna has largely moved away from acting to focus on roles behind the camera. She served as executive producer of the teen comedy action film Agent Cody Banks (2003), as well as its sequel the following year. She made her directorial debut with the comedy-drama Filth and Wisdom (2008), and followed up with the biographical film W.E. (2011). Madonna has also focused on projects focusing on artistic freedom and human rights, producing and writing the documentary I Am Because We Are and co-directing the short film secretprojectrevolution (2013) with Steven Klein.
Feature films
| † | Indicates a cameo appearance |
| ‡ | Indicates a documentary appearance |
| Year | Title | Role | Credit(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Vision Quest | Club singer † | Actress | |
| 1985 | Desperately Seeking Susan | Susan Thomas | Actress | |
| 1985 | A Certain Sacrifice | Bruna | Actress | |
| 1986 | Shanghai Surprise | Gloria Tatlock | Actress | |
| 1987 | Who's That Girl | Nikki Finn | Actress | |
| 1989 | Bloodhounds of Broadway | Hortense Hathaway | Actress | |
| 1990 | Dick Tracy | Breathless Mahoney | Actress | |
| 1991 | Madonna: Truth or Dare | Herself ‡ |
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| 1991 | Shadows and Fog | Marie † | Actress | |
| 1992 | A League of Their Own | Mae Mordabito | Actress | |
| 1993 | Body of Evidence | Rebecca Carlson | Actress | |
| 1993 | Dangerous Game (aka Snake Eyes) | Sarah Jennings | Actress | |
| 1995 | Blue in the Face | Singing telegram girl † | Actress | |
| 1995 | Four Rooms ("The Missing Ingredient" segment) | Elspeth | Actress | |
| 1996 | Girl 6 | Boss No. 3 † | Actress | |
| 1996 | Evita | Eva Perón | Actress | |
| 2000 | The Next Best Thing | Abbie Reynolds | Actress | |
| 2002 | Swept Away | Amber Leighton | Actress | |
| 2002 | Die Another Day | Verity † | Actress | |
| 2005 | I'm Going to Tell You a Secret | Herself ‡ |
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| 2006 | Arthur and the Invisibles | Princess Selenia | Actress (voice) | |
| 2008 | Filth and Wisdom | — |
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| 2008 | I Am Because We Are | Herself ‡ |
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| 2011 | W.E. | — |
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| 2021 | Madame X | Herself ‡ |
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| TBD | Little Sparrow | — |
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Short films
| Year | Title | Role | Medium | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | The Making of Sex | Herself | VHS |
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| 2001 | The Hire: Star | Superstar | Internet | Actress | |
| 2005 | Confessions on a Promo Tour | Herself | AOL | Appearance | |
| 2006 | Confessions Tour: Behind the Scenes | Herself | DVD | Appearance | |
| 2010 | Sticky & Sweet Tour: Behind the Scenes | Herself | DVD | Appearance | |
| 2012 | Inside the DNA of MDNA | Herself | YouTube | Appearance | |
| 2013 | secretprojectrevolution | Unknown | BitTorrent |
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| 2016 | Qandeel Baloch: A Very Short Story | — | YouTube | Narrator | |
| 2017 | Her-Story | Unknown | Internet | Actress | |
| 2019 | World of Madame X | Herself | Amazon Prime | Appearance | |
| 2023 | The Enlightenment | Unknown | YouTube | Appearance |
Theatrical plays
| Year | Title | Role | Playwright | Stage | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Goose and Tom-Tom | Lorraine | David Rabe | Lincoln Center Theater | |
| 1988 | Speed-the-Plow | Karen | David Mamet | Royale Theatre | |
| 2002 | Up for Grabs | Loren | David Williamson | Wyndham's Theatre |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Episode | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Saturday Night Live |
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"Madonna/Simple Minds" (Season 11, Episode 1) | Actress | |
| 1986 | Saturday Night Live | Herself (opening intro) | "Sigourney Weaver/Buster Poindexter" (Season 12, Episode 1) | Actress | |
| 1991 | Saturday Night Live | Herself ("Wayne's World" sketch) | "Delta Burke/Chris Isaak" (Season 16, Episode 19) | Actress | |
| 1992 | Saturday Night Live | Liz Rosenberg ("Coffee Talk" sketch) | "Roseanne & Tom Arnold/Red Hot Chili Peppers" (Season 17, Episode 14) | Actress | |
| 1993 | Saturday Night Live |
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"Harvey Keitel/Madonna" (Season 18, Episode 11) | Actress | |
| 2003 | Will & Grace | Liz | "Dolls and Dolls" | Actress | |
| 2004 | 30 Days Until I'm Famous | — | Television film | Executive producer | |
| 2008 | Alyx | — | Television film | Executive producer | |
| 2009 | Saturday Night Live | Herself ("Deep House Dish" sketch) | "Ryan Reynolds/Lady Gaga" (Season 35, Episode 2) | Actress | |
| 2013 | Saturday Night Live | Herself ("The Barry Gibb Talk Show" sketch) | "Jimmy Fallon/Justin Timberlake" (Season 39, Episode 10) | Actress | |
| 2023 | Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero | Herself (cameo) | — | ||
| 2024 | Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars | Herself (voice on her personal chef's phone) | — |
Commercials
| Year(s). | Company | Promoting | Title | Theme song(s) | Region | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986–1987 | Mitsubishi | Hi-Fi systems/VHS recorders | — | Japan | ||
| 1989 | Pepsi-Cola | Soft drink beverage | "Make a Wish" | "Like a Prayer" | International | |
| 1990 | Rock the Vote | United States elections, 1990 | — | "Vogue" | United States | |
| 1995 | Takara Shuzo | Shochu rice beverage | — | "Broken" (unreleased Madonna song) | Japan | |
| 1999 | Max Factor | Cosmetics | "Max Factor Gold" | "Ray of Light" | International | |
| 2001 | BMW | Automobiles | "Star" | "Song 2" by Blur | International | |
| 2003 | Gap | Clothing | "A New Groove, A New Jean" | "Into the Hollywood Groove" | International | |
| 2003 | Estée Lauder | Fragrance | "Beyond Paradise" | "Love Profusion" | International | |
| 2004 | Radio ZET | Radio station | — | "Music" | Poland | |
| 2005 | Motorola | Motorola ROKR E1 with iTunes phone | "Phone Booth" | "Hung Up" | International | |
| 2007 | H&M | Clothing range | "M by Madonna" | "Purdy" by William Orbit | International | |
| 2007 | Brillia Mare Ariake | Apartment complex | — | — | Japan | |
| 2008 | Sunsilk | Hair care products | "Life Can't Wait" | International | ||
| 2010 | Dolce & Gabbana | MDG Sunglasses | — | "Revolver" | Internet | |
| 2012 | Truth or Dare by Madonna | Fragrance | — | "Girl Gone Wild" (Offer Nissim Remix) | International | |
| 2014 | MDNA Skin | Skin Care Products | "Madonna Introduces MDNA Skin" | — | United States | |
| 2023–2024 | Itaú Unibanco | 100 Years of Itaú | "Feito de Futuro" (transl. "Made For The Future") | — | Brazil |