There’s no question that acting takes a tremendous amount of talent. Learning facial expressions, memorizing lines, and embodying characters on a written page all take effort and practice. Some actors prefer to play similar roles throughout their careers, but others have bigger ambitions. Some actors find themselves behind the lens as well, and often they find they’re very talented directors as well. White talent agents often consider people who can act, sing, and dance to be a “triple threat”, directing is a fourth skill that is also very valuable in the entertainment industry.
While there have been dozens of actors who have turned into directors over the years, some have been more successful than others. Jon Favreau, for instance, is probably one of the most successful actor-turned-directors of all time. He started by doing smaller comedic roles in movies like Couples Retreat and Swingers but soon worked his way up to directing multiple Disney and MCU movies and TV shows. Here’s a list of some of the other most successful actors who became great directors.
10 Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is one of the most famous actors in the world. She’s starred in big-budget movies like the original Tomb Raider and Disney’s live-action remake Maleficent, but she’s been in some lesser-known movies as well. Her marriage to Brad Pitt was one of the biggest tabloid stories of the 2000s, and most people recognize her from the covers of popular magazines around the world.
As someone with incredible acting talent, it’s not surprising that Jolie would have ambitions behind the lens as well. Although her directorial work is not as well known as her on-screen films, she’s been behind the lens for some pretty notable works, including 2011’s In the Land of Blood and Honey and 2014’s Unbroken.
9 Elizabeth Banks
Another actress turned director-who’s been making a big splash in Hollywood lately is Elizabeth Banks. She has more than 250 film credits to her name, but some of the movies she’s directed may surprise you. Banks was behind the lens for 2015’s Pitch Perfect 2, 2019’s Charlie’s Angels, and 2023’s Cocaine Bear, to name a few. She’s hoping the latter gets a sequel shortly as well.
As an actor who mostly appeared in comedy movies, it’s easy to understand why Banks would veer towards making lighthearted films. Many movie fans will remember her for her role as Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games movies, and she has no intention of slowing down in the acting sphere either. In 2023, she appeared in The Beanie Bubble and provided the voice of a duck named Pam in the Illumination animated feature Migration.
8 George Clooney
If Angelina Jolie is one of the most popular female actors of the 2000s, then George Clooney is one of the most popular male ones. Clooney has been a fixture of Hollywood since his debut in the late 1970s, and has starred in endless memorable films including 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven, 2005’s Syriana, 2009’s Up in the Air, 2007’s Michael Clayton, and many, many more.
Clooney has also been a feature film director for over 20 years. His directorial debut was 2002’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, a movie he also starred in. Some of his other notable directorial credits include The Ides of March, The Monuments Men, and The Midnight Sky. He’s talented, good-looking, funny, and charming. Oh yeah, he’s also played Batman (and has apologized for it). Is there anything Clooney can’t do?
7 Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an actor/director from New York City who holds the record for nominations for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards with 16. He started his career in the 1950s by writing short jokes and comedy bits, and he soon found himself performing as a stand-up comedian. By the 1960s, Allen was writing screenplays and directing movies, even landing with plays on Broadway.
Allen acted too and had huge hits as an actor/director in 1977’s Annie Hall and 1979’s Manhattan, though the latter doesn’t paint a very nice picture of New York City. Allen’s reign as a filmmaker has not been without controversy, though. He married his first wife when he was 20 and she was 17. He was later accused of sexually assaulting his second wife Mia Farrow, but those allegations were later proven to be false. Allen’s latest work is 2023’s Coup de Chance, which he both wrote and directed, and it earned him a standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival.
6 Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola is the daughter of the legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, who directed The Godfather and its subsequent sequels. It’s not surprising that Sofia Coppola’s earliest film roles were in her father’s movies. She faced criticism of nepotism early on but starred in movies like 1983’s The Outsiders and Rumble Fish.
As a director, Coppola has stood out more on her own. Her movies are often sweet and tender but also revealing about the harsh realities of American life. Her debut film The Virgin Suicides was released to critical acclaim in 1999. Coppola followed it up with Lost in Translation in 2003, which featured Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray. The movie won Coppola an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and she’s been one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood ever since.
5 Clint Eastwood
What can you say about Clint Eastwood that hasn’t already been said? He’s one of the original cowboys who made a name for himself starting in Spaghetti Westerns in the 1960s. He starred in Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy and is still a top leading man almost six decades later. Eastwood even expressed interest in playing a Black Panther character at one point.
Eastwood easily transitioned into directing in the early 1970s, scoring hits with 1985’s Pale Rider, 1992’s Unforgiven, 2003’s Mystic River, and 2004’s Million Dollar Baby, among others. Eastwood’s acting and directing filmography is extensive, but there’s no doubt he’s probably the most successful actor turned director of all time.
4 Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson is from New York City and started his acting career in the late 1970s. His big breakthrough came in 1979 when he started as the title character in the post-apocalyptic thriller Mad Max. He later had a string of hits in the 1980s and 1990s with movies like the Lethal Weapon trilogy, Maverick, Ransom, and Payback. In 1995, he directed and starred in Braveheart, which won him Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture.
Gibson is now primarily known as a director in Hollywood. His controversial views on religion have landed him in hot water over the years, but his filmography is an impressive one. He was behind the lens for 2004’s The Passion of the Christ, 2006’s Apocalypto, and 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge, to name a few.
3 Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart is famous for her role as Bella Swan in the Twilight Saga franchise, adapted from the popular young adult novels by Stephenie Meyer. Stewart more recently starred as Princess Diana of Wales in the 2021 film Spencer. She’s appeared in dozens of movies but decided to go behind the lens in the mid-2000s.
As a director, Stewart has mostly made music videos with a little dabbling in other forms as well. She’s directed videos for artists like Chvrches and Boygenius, and made a short film called Crickets as part of an anthology series about the effects of COVID-19. Her feature film debut is called The Chronology of Water, but, as of October 2023, there’s no set release date yet.
2 Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner has had an interesting and eclectic career in the movie business. He’s been an actor since the late 1960s and had small roles in movies like 1979’s The Jerk (written by Steve Martin) and 1990’s Misery (adapted from the Stephen King novel of the same name). Where Reiner succeeds is behind the lens as a very accomplished director.
Some of Reiner’s most memorable films include the 1984 rock mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, the coming-of-age drama Stand By Me (also a Stephen King adaptation), and the unbelievably well-acted 1992 drama A Few Good Men. Reiner also directed the 1987 classic The Princess Bride, which continues to delight audiences of all ages more than three decades later. We could go on forever about Reiner, but in short, he’s one of the best actors/directors in Hollywood.
1 Charlie Chaplin
Most people know Charlie Chaplin or have at least heard of him. He’s the silent film star of the 1910s and 1920s who donned a signature mustache and delighted legions of fans with his hilarious comedy movies. Time and time again, Chaplin put on his iconic top hat and performed as The Tramp, his most popular movie character. Chaplin starred in The Gold Rush in 1925, which is considered one of the most commercially successful and highest-grossing silent movies of all time.
What some cinema fans might not know is that Chaplin was also a talented director. He starred in more than 80 films and pulled double duty on many of them. In 1967, Chaplin even told Life that he thought he was “a better director than an actor.” At the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929, he won both Best Director and Best Actor for The Circus. Chaplin was certainly a legend in more ways than one.
