Last month’s sophomore release for She & Him, “Volume Two,” marks another step in a growing trend for crossover stars.She & Him is the duo of Hollywood actress-singer Zooey Deschanel and singer-songwriter M. Ward.Their collaboration is just the latest example of a trend of Hollywood actors trying their hands at music. But, unlike the Lindsay Lohans or Will Smiths of the past, this new crop of crossover attempts has been aimed more at critical respect than the pop charts.She & Him does not make wildly experimental music, but it is still different from what one would expect to hear from a Hollywood star, as soft acoustics complement quiet, delicate vocals.And, the group records for Merge Records, an indie label best known for artists like Arcade Fire, Spoon and Neutral Milk Hotel.In addition to Deschanel’s project, more mainstream actress Scarlett Johansson has released two albums in the last two years.The first, “Anywhere I Lay My Head,” was released in May 2008 and consisted mainly of Tom Waits covers.Waits is a fine artist, but he holds far more critical weight in the music world than pop cachet, and his songs are certainly odd choices for a glamorous Hollywood actress to tackle on her debut album.Johansson’s second effort, “Break Up,” released in September 2009, was an album of soft duets with singer-songwriter Pete Yorn. Yorn is not an underground artist by any stretch — he is signed with Columbia after all — but none of his records have ever peaked higher than No. 19 on the Billboard charts.Female actresses of the past, such as Olivia Newton John in the ’80s, have primarily tried to burn up the pop charts with their music careers, but Deschanel and Johansson have chosen to make music outside of those confines.Ryan Gosling, star of “The Notebook,” is in the band Dead Man’s Bones, which released its self-titled debut album in October.The band enlists the help of a children’s choir to complement haunting and ethereal male vocals, and the band members play all of the instruments used on the album. Gosling even learning how to play the cello for the track “Buried in Water.”Dead Man’s Bones’ sound veers from classical to sparse, experimental rock, but this is not the kind of music fans are accustomed to hearing from their Hollywood stars, especially an Oscar nominee such as Gosling.Is this a trend that is here to stay, or are these artistic pursuits just passing fancies for a select wave of actors?As more independent music reaches the ears of people via the Internet, movie soundtracks and car commercials — think Phoenix on a Cadillac commercial or Grizzly Bear on a Volkswagen Super Bowl promo — it’s likely that many film stars will explore the realm of critically respected music as viable alternatives for a second career.It’s hard to be critical of that.—–Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]