One of the most important relationships on a film set is between the actor and the director. Actors depend on directors to portray their characters with insight, while directors rely on actors to convert their creative visions into a reality. Yet some actors tire of being the instrument and decide to take a crack at directing.
Creative control is one of the main selling points for actors branching into directing. After George Clooney finished Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), his second feature after 2002’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, he said that he found his role behind the camera more rewarding than his role in front of it. As director, Clooney chose a topic interesting to him — the McCarthy era — and told the Murrow-McCarthy story in the way he wanted, a freedom he rarely experienced as an actor.
Although this artistic liberation draws some actors, other thespians find their footing only after directing a hit film. Before introducing the world to Zoolander in 2001, Ben Stiller had helmed Reality Bites (1994) and The Cable Guy (1996), but he was best known for his ensemble performances and his turn in Meet the Parents the year before. Zoolander helped him transition into the box office giant he his today, a role that he maintained last year in Tropic Thunder, which blended action and comedy into a critical and commercial smash.
Like Clooney and Stiller, Sean Penn’s first foray into directing earned only a lukewarm critical response. The Pledge (2001), featuring Jack Nicholson as a veteran cop, certainly didn’t lack star power, but most reviewers dismissed Penn's work as merely average. He rebounded, however, with 2007’s Into the Wild — praised for its honest portrayal of Christopher McCandless’s remarkable journey across the country.
In addition to Penn, Mel Gibson followed the familiar trajectory of actors-turned-directors in gaining recognition for films other than their debuts. Before Gibson created controversial movies, he directed The Man Without A Face (1993), a relatively small and largely forgotten project. After his debut, Gibson ingratiated himself in the story of William Wallace, writing, directing, producing and acting in Braveheart (1995), which earned him two Oscars. This complete immersion in his subjects continued in Gibson’s later projects, 2004’s The Passion of the Christ and 2006’s Apocalypto, in which actors spoke Aramaic and the Yucatean Mayan dialect, respectively.
Because their work requires such an enormous amount of physical energy, directors often see a dip in the quality of their films by the time they become eligible for Social Security. Aging seems to have had the opposite effect on Clint Eastwood, however, as he has become increasingly prolific and acclaimed in recent years. Since The Rookie (1990) and Unforgiven (1992), Eastwood’s tackled boxing (2004’s Million Dollar Baby), street violence (2008's Gran Torino) and the life of Nelson Mandela (the upcoming Invictus). Part of Eastwood’s success lies in his ability to communicate with his actors, maybe because he continues to act in many of his projects.
Eastwood’s continued success as both an actor and a director demonstrates the way in which an actor’s experience can translate into enhanced directorial talent. By understanding how actors communicate and perform firsthand, these directors have the ability to coax performances from their casts better than their non-actor peers. Eastwood has definitely set the bar high for aspiring actor-directors, but there's plenty of room for more.
