Adele Takes Her First Bow as an Actress in Tom Ford’s Opulent Opera Drama

12 November 2025

Adele at her final "Weekends with Adele" Las Vegas residency show on Nov. 23, 2024. Denise Truscello/Getty Images

The British singer-songwriter Adele, acclaimed worldwide for her powerful voice and emotional lyricism, is now preparing to step into a new spotlight: acting. In a move that has caught both her fans and film-industry observers by surprise, she has signed on to make her feature-film debut in Tom Ford’s ambitious adaptation of Cry to Heaven the 1982 novel by Anne Rice set in the tumultuous world of 18th-century Italian opera.

Adele’s move to acting arrives at a moment of transition for her: fresh from a headline-making Las Vegas residency that concluded in late 2024, she announced a break from live performance and public appearances. Now her next creative chapter appears to encompass more than music. Tom Ford, fashion designer turned Oscar-nominated filmmaker, will not only direct the film but also write the screenplay and produce it through his company. The film is currently in pre-production with principal photography to begin in London and Rome in January 2026, with an eye to release in the later months of that year.

The novel at the heart of the project, Cry to Heaven, delves into a little-known chapter of operatic history: the lives of castrati singers who were subjected to the traumatic practice of castration to preserve their soprano voices, and the two men whose fates intertwine in Venice and Calabria amid ambition, betrayal and forbidden song. Ford’s previous films A Single Man (2009) and Nocturnal Animals (2016) earned acclaim for their striking visuals and emotional intensity. This new project signals a further evolution in his cinematic ambitions.

For Adele, this move into acting is notable both for its boldness and its timing. Known for vulnerability in her music and for navigating her personal life under intense public scrutiny, she now turns toward a medium that demands transformation and embodiment of someone else’s voice and story. Although she had flirted with acting in the past including a cameo appearing as herself in a television show years ago this marks her first formal commitment to a character role in a major film.

The cast is expansive and noteworthy. Among those already attached are actors such as Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor‑Johnson, Colin Firth, Paul Bettany and Thandiwe Newton, alongside rising talent including teenage actor Owen Cooper. The inclusion of Adele among such a star-studded ensemble sends a signal that Ford and the filmmakers are positioning this as a high-profile event that blends music, history and cinematic spectacle.

Industry watchers are already speculating about the kind of role Adele may undertake. Will it draw on her musical background and give her a voice-driven part in the opera world? Or will it push her into wholly new territory as an actor unmoored from her familiar public identity? Ford and the producers have remained tight-lipped about specifics, adding to the intrigue. For her part, Adele’s transformation from chart-topping musician to screen actor opens the door to a new creative chapter and potentially a wider cultural reach.

Beyond the individual career moves, the project underscores broader shifts in entertainment at the intersection of music and cinema. Artists like Adele venturing into acting signal a blending of creative domains, while directors like Ford who straddle fashion, film and culture reflect a multidisciplinary moment. The 18th-century setting of Cry to Heaven offers opulence, heightened drama and a historic spectacle a perfect stage for both Ford’s aesthetic sensibilities and Adele’s emotive presence.

When production begins in early 2026 in London and Rome, the film will likely become one of the more anticipated releases of that year given the combination of real-life musician turned actor, designer-director Ford, and a story steeped in opera, decadence and identity. For Adele’s fans, it invites curiosity: how she will interpret a role far removed from the confessional ballads that brought her fame. For film audiences, it offers potential for surprise: the singer who once sang about heartbreak now stepping into dramatic storytelling and filmic world-building.

Ultimately, Adele’s acting debut in this high-profile film marks more than a new line on her résumé; it represents a shift in creative identity and ambition. It suggests that the artist is ready to turn her gaze outward, beyond the microphone, toward character, narrative and performance in new form. And it sets the stage for what could become a defining moment in her career and for Ford’s evolving body of work. As the camera rolls on history, music, identity and the artificial divisions between them blur.