Rolling Stone reports that musician Dave Matthews will appear in the Wayne Wang-directed feature "Because of Winn-Dixie" opening later this year, a surprise to some of his fans that he chose this endeavour to flex his thespian skills:

"What originally drew me to it, after reading the book and the script, was I
thought it was a really sweet story, and it's a small story. By no means do I think it will have the effect of judging me as an actor as if I've thrown myself into some giant spectacle. It's a small spectacle".

Matthews' has appeared on screen before in an update of "Where the Red
Fern Grows" but due to financial troubles it has yet to see a theatrical release - for now its still going in some festival circuits. In Winn-Dixie he plays an ex-con drifter who takesover ownership of a pet shop in Florida where he imparts his wisdom to a young girl whose the film's lead.

Matthews also plans to contribute new songs to the film's soundtrack - his
character has trouble stringing thoughts together without a guitar in his
hand. "I always said that if I ever do a part in a movie, I would refuse to
play music, but I realized that this is the perfect part for me. I got to write some songs and, in a way, try not to be myself. Although I can't really escape the way that I write, it was fun to pretend".

Thanks to 'FanHalen'.