As the saying goes, "But what I really want to do is direct!" From every era of Hollywood, many actors have been bitten by the directing bug. Some would parlay their success into a directing career while some would act only to finance their personal directing projects. Actors from Ida Lupino to Charles Laughton to Jodie Foster to Tom Hanks have all had measures of success behind the camera.
Clint Eastwood now has shelves of Oscars due to his Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby winning Best Picture for their respective years. Here are 10 of the best films directed by Actors.
The Apostle: Directed By Robert Duvall
In 1997, Robert Duvall directed and starred in what most critics felt was his masterwork as both, The Apostle. Duvall starred as a preacher who accidentally kills a man and goes into hiding in the deep South. While there, he finds his soul.
Critics were in unison saying that this was a film that would bring the actors another Oscar. Alas, Duvall lost to Jack Nicholson for As Good As It Gets but most feel that Duvall did his best work yet both in from and behind the camera.
One-Eyed Jacks: Directed By Marlon Brando
Originally directed by Stanley Kubrick, Marlon Brando took over the reins after the two men couldn't see eye to eye on the film's tone. Brando had no directing experience and the film went over budget and behind schedule, causing the studio to take the film away from the actor and make massive cuts.
Although a failure upon its release in 1961, One-Eyed Jacks has since been restored to Brando's intended cut and has, over the decades, been recognized as a good film and unique Western.
Easy Rider: Directed By Dennis Hopper
By 1969 Dennis Hopper had already been through the tragic loss of his idol and friend James Dean, pissed off John Wayne, been fired by Henry Hathaway, and alienated much of old-school Hollywood. It was a surprise when his first film as director, Easy Rider became an international smash hit film respected by critics and loved by audiences.
The film would win Hopper the Best First Feature award at Cannes and would be nominated for two Oscars. Considered a "counterculture" classic, Hopper's film has gone down in history as one of the finest films to be directed by an actor and one that spoke for a generation.
The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada: Directed By Tommy Lee Jones
Widely regarded as one of the finest films of Tommy Lee Jones' career, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada was a Modern Western/ Character study of a man who goes after a border patrol officer for the killing of his only friend.
Jones proved himself on par with filmmakers such as John Ford and Sam Peckinpah with his directing style and his mixing of modern sensibilities with the ways and codes of the Old West.
Mystic River: Directed By Clint Eastwood
Already a multiple Oscar winner for 1992's Unforgiven, ol' Clint surprised critics, audiences, and The Academy once again with this literate and Shakespearean adaptation of Dennis Lehane's Boston-set novel of the same name.
Sean Penn finally won an Oscar, as did Tim Robbins, and the film was nominated for multiple Academy Awards and Golden Globes. Eastwood ushered in a new era of directing for himself, as his work became more character-oriented and deeper in its maturity.
Reds: Directed by Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty was Hollywood's darling already and had directed a successful and multi-award-nominated film, Heaven Can Wait, that proved his skill as a filmmaker. No one was prepared for his next film, 1981's Reds, a 3-hour epic film about a journalist who becomes involved in the Russian Communist Revolution.
In both scope and content, Beatty showed he had the skills of the old Hollywood masters such as David Lean, who could make films on an epic scale while also bringing about deeply personal and soulful characterizations. Reds won Warren Beatty a deserved Oscar for Best Director and the film was nominated for 6 more, winning for Maureen Stapleton's supporting performance and Vittorio Storaro's jaw-dropping cinematography.
Dances With Wolves: Directed By Kevin Costner
When Kevin Costner, riding high at the height of his acting career, announced he was directing a 3-plus hour Western about a man who becomes involved with the Plains Indians, people rolled their eyes. The press (always so eager to tear anything down before they see it) went so far as to dub it "Kevin's Gate" during its production.
When released, Costner's film shut down all naysayers, as Dances With Wolves gave American cinema a beautifully structured, patient, and respectful look at the Native Americans. The film was a massive financial success and won multiple Oscars including Best Director and Best Picture, assuring that Costner was a great filmmaker.
The Outlaw Josey Wales: Directed By Clint Eastwood
Already a Western icon due to Sergio Leone's "Man With No Name" trilogy, his time on TV's Rawhide, and his starring role in the hit "Oaters" Hang 'Em High, Two Mules For Sister Sara, and High Plains Drifter (which he also directed), Clint Eastwood had one of his biggest financial and critical hits with his epic revenge Western, The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Playing a man who becomes an outlaw as he breaks from the Confederacy to hunt down the men who murdered his family, Eastwood showed a deeper scope to his style of directing and made this film as much a character study and examination of the differing opinions of the Civil War as it was an exciting Western tale.
Touch Of Evil: Directed By Orson Welles
Already a respected actor of stage and screen, Orson Welles had directed before (most famously Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons, which were both not immediately respected) but it is his 1958 directorial effort, Touch of Evil, that is his most complete work as a filmmaker.
While Citizen Kane is considered by many to be the greatest film ever made, there are arguments to be made against its imperfect screenplay. Touch of Evil (now fully restored to its full director's vision) is regarded as a film that is perfect from script to execution. Welles gave the film a Noir touch while telling the seedy tale of murder and betrayal south of the border. While even Charlton Heston admits he was miscast as a Mexican in the lead role, it was the studio that insisted Heston star or they wouldn't give Welles the money to make the film. The film is fondly remembered as a pure classic by critics and cinephiles.
Night Of The Hunter: Directed By Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was one of the most respected actors in the history of cinema. When he decided to direct a film, it would go on to become one of the most respected and iconic films ever made. Night of the Hunter was a dramatic thriller that starred Robert Mitchum in a role that would become his most popular due to his eagerly villainous turn and his iconic "Love and Hate" hand tattoos.
Widely regarded as an all-time classic, Laughton's one and only film as director is referenced in films such as Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and is studied and admired for its artful and inventive direction that used inventive camera compositions and styles.