Cara Delevingne releases single – but can she sing?

It has been a common career trajectory for those in the entertainment industry for decades, with many showbiz stars navigating freely between modelling, acting and singing.

Jennifer Lopez did it. Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift did it. I’m still confused as to whether to call Jared Leto an actor or a singer – and I’m sure I’ve seen him modelling for Gucci.

While some of these beautiful, prolific stars manage to excel, or at least deliver, in everything they seek to accomplish, there are others who would be better sticking to what they know.

In Luc Besson’s latest comic book fiasco Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets, the French director cast Delevingne and Rihanna – two very familiar faces with very little training.

Delevingne stars as Laureline, Valerian’s partner in policing the universe, while Rihanna is cabaret performer Bubble.

The hope was to compensate Besson’s relatively thin budget, compared to comic book giants like Marvel or DC, and grab the audience’s attention to what he hopes will become a new franchise.

It was an ambitious move, which I’m sure would have worked if our neighbours across the Atlantic had any idea who the hell Valerian and Laureline were.

But they don’t, and the film has stumbled at the US box office despite $ 180m (£137m) being spent on production – an all-time record for an indie film, although not exactly the $ 250m spent by Marvel on the latest Captain America.

Besson’s strategy failed, but it has given Delevingne and Rihanna a chance to show off some different skills.

Rihanna is a talented performer and a prolific worker. When she is not making multi-platinum-selling albums, selling out stadiums, collaborating with Kendrick Lamar or dancing in Besson’s latest film, she is meeting with the French Prime Minister and welcoming Prince Harry in Barbados.

Rihanna will be fine.

Delevingne, who has modelled for the likes of Burberry and Chanel, has said “modelling makes me sick” and that she never really saw herself as one. So she took up acting, which is something she “wanted to do my entire life”.

She certainly has charisma and dedication, having made seven films since 2015 and currently finishing another two.

There is, of course, a learning curve, and hopefully her career will allow her to enter better projects as time goes by. So far, they haven’t been great.

David Ayer’s Suicide Squad was a mess, through no fault of her own, as was the latest take on Peter Pan. Fingers crossed Justin Chadwick’s Tulip Fever will give young Laureline a better chance to shine.

What doesn’t help, is this James Franco-like lack of focus.

In March, Cara announced her first novel. Now, she is singing in a music video.

The track is unironically titled I Feel Everything. Which I’m sure she does, but that is not enough.

The James Bond-esque video feels fake and Cara looks uncomfortable in her new role. The song is a mess, with vocals lapped on top of each other accompanied by a beat so dull not even three different hair colours can disguise.

Cara was a great model, one of the best to appear in the last decade, and her fearless attitude combined with style and grace make her a charismatic actress who I’m keen to see develop through time.

But she is no Renaissance woman, and would be better focusing on the road than getting lost along the way.