As a cellist, Mulroney also toured with Alanis Morisette, and backed up Melissa Etheridge on her 1992 song “Place Your Hand.” He also played backup on Rain Phoenix’s EP “Papercranes.” As a cellist, the pop music he plays on tends to be moody and emotional; he’s not a rocker. Mulroney, despite his fame as an actor, was merely credited in the liner notes; he wasn’t featured in music videos.
Additionally, Mulroney has played on the scores for multiple hit films, including some of the biggest blockbusters of the day. In a 2016 profile in the Los Angeles Times, Mulroney talked about his position as the 11th chair of the orchestra that played for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” a film scored by Michael Giacchino. Indeed, Mulroney has been part of Giacchino’s orchestra on several films, including “Mission: Impossible III,” “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” “Star Trek,” “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” and “The Incredibles 2.” Talking to the Times, Mulroney said:
“Obviously, I knew about orchestras, I knew how to play in one, I knew about scoring orchestras. But then when I start doing it, it really became a different perspective for me and such a source of pride — but pride related to the fact that I’m included in an exclusive group of musicians … really just towering talent. I’m more of a journeyman player.”
It seems that Mulroney met Giacchino sometime in 2005, and the actor essentially dared the composer to hire him as a cellist. Giacchino took him up on the dare, and now Mulroney, in addition to a lucrative acting career, can be heard playing music in several widely seen action spectaculars.
Mulroney occasionally shows off his cello skills on talk shows.