In addition to the well-documented box office success of many pop-musician biopics – not surefire moneymakers, but pretty consistent ones for over 20 years now – there’s another track record that likely keeps actors signing on: the Academy Awards. Jamie Foxx won a Best Actor Oscar for playing Ray Charles in the 2004 hit Ray; a year later, Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress for playing June Carter Cash in Walk the Line, opposite a nominated Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny.