Top Five Actors Turned Directors

"What I really want to do is direct" is a popular refrain echoed by most actors who yearn to step behind the camera rather than stay in front of it. The reasons behind it can be vast; a desire for personal artistic expression and freedom to create a vision, the possible glory of becoming a more versatile entertainter. While some actors haven't found the success in both fields, some are enjoying the benefits of being notable actors and directors.

This list focuses on my personal picks for top actors turned directors, considering their achievements as directors and not their acting abilities (although some do act in their own films, sometimes starring or having a noteworthy supporting role). Next to their names I've put in parenthesis examples of their directorial work that I've seen. The list is comprised mostly of men only but I plan to write another article focusing on the other accomplishments of actresses in the entertainment industry.

Clint Eastwood (The Bridges of Madison County, Absolute Power, Mystic River)
-After establishing himself as the quintessential modern tough guy in such films as Dirty Harry, Eastwood turned to directing and found a new career in directing that led to three Oscar nominations and two Oscar wins. His knack for storytelling and showcasing the scope of the emotions in a scene is apparent in such scenes as the discovery of Katie Markum's body in Mystic River, when her father Jimmy (Sean Penn) agonizes over the discovery and howls in pain, while his childhood friend and detective on the case, Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon) looks on silently. It's a powerful movie, executed with style and is a notable triumph in Eastwood's directing career.

Ron Howard (Apollo 13, Ransom, A Beautiful Mind)
-Ron Howard's directing career has undoubtedly surpassed his acting one, but it's not something that Howard would object to. On his page at the Internet Movie Database, imdb.com, he's quoted as saying, "It was always my dream to be a director. A lot of it had to do with controlling my own destiny, because as a young actor you feel at everyone's disposal. But I wanted to become a leader in the business." His achievements have earned him Oscar nominations for Apollo 13 and a win for A Beautiful Mind as well as numerous other nominations and wins. Howard's directing style concentrates on the strengths and weaknesses of the characters, notable in such scenes as a close-up on Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) when he realized that their mission turned from a journey to a life or death situation, uttering the memorable line, "We just lost the moon." It's also apparent when , in A Beautiful Mind, John Nash (Russell Crowe) breaks down in front of Dr. Rosen (Christopher Plummer), demanding why he can't find his way out of his mental problems when Rosen informs him that it is his mind that is causing his problems and therefore can't ease them. Courage is a prevailant theme in Howard's work, and another quote on his IMDB page showcases this focus: "There is something inherently tough about Americans. They will not accept defeat. The astronauts of Apollo 13 would not give up, John Nash in A Beautiful Mind would not give up, and Jim Braddock [Russell Crowe's title character in Cinderella Man] would not surrender to poverty".

Kathy Bates ("Oz", "Six Feet Under")
-In the thirteenth episode of the second season of Oz, "Family Bizness", Bates directed this pivotal episode by having the actors rehearse the scene so she could get an idea on how to shoot it. She described this process on the extra features section of the second season of Oz dvds. Bates has also directed five episodes for "Six Feet Under" and later guest starred on the show, earning an Emmy nomination for her role as "Bettina". She is adept at finding humanity in the characters, making the audience able to connect with them. Her tactic of staging scenes before deciding on camera angles seems to work efficiently in finding the best way to highlight the significance of a scene, e.g. the slow removal of clothing and apprehension during Beecher and Keller's wrestling pratice in "Family Bizness", and Nate's metaphorical dream of his girlfriend's past in Six Feet Under's fifth episode of the first season "An Open Book".

Mel Gibson (The Man Without a Face, Braveheart)
-His deplorable drunken rant on July 28, 2006 aside, Gibson is undoubtedly a talented actor and director. His directoral debut The Man Without A Face showcased a complex relationship between a tutor and a student. His ultimate achievement as a director (so far) is Braveheart, an epic movie about
Scottish legend William Wallace, which won five Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. The film brought forth an interest in Scottish history and even brought forth two Braveheart conventions in 1997 and 2000. Braveheart's memorable battle scenes, along with the subplots of Wallace's romances and the historical aspects of Scottish history brought the film stunning success. Gibson's movie does take liberties with historical facts but does bring the Scottish legend to life and helped restore the popularity of the epic historical movie.

George Clooney (Good Night and Good Luck)
-Clooney's stylish black and white film depicting the Red Scare of the Fifties resonates today as there are obvious parallels to the fear of communism then to today's fear of terrorism. Clooney's concentration on the effects of the scare on the American public and the staff at CBS news have a dramatic impact on the viewer as the threats of communist sympathies threaten the lives and livelihood of Edward R. Murrow and his colleagues. Rather than hiring an actor to portray Senator Joseph McCarthy, who led the anti-communist crusade, the film uses archived footage, giving the movie its needed factual basis and creating an almost Orwellian aura around the McCarthy. The film's tag line, "We will not walk in fear of one another" is a courageous message, one that resonates as well today as it did then.

Further reading:

John & Lin Anderson, "BRAVEHEART @ MacBraveHeart" - organizors of the Braveheart's conventions (http://www.braveheart.co.uk/)

CNN American Morning with Paula Zahn, "Actors Behind Camera" December 26, 2002 (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0212/26/ltm.15.html)

Dave Karger, "Direct Results" January 13,2006 (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1148651,00.html)

Alisdair Cairns, "When Actors Shout 'Action!'" March 12, 2007 (http://www.epigram.org.uk/view.php?id=1643)

John Hartl, "What They Really Want to do is Direct" December 16, 2004 (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3130848)