As Entourage is mostly known for its big-time appearances from movie stars, wrestlers, musicians, and even porn stars, the cameos were part of the reason why people tuned in to this Sex and the City style show week after week.
Though most of the general public wouldn’t think of directors as A-list stars, among moviegoers and cinephiles, there were actually a ton of big names in Entourage that would have them drooling. Whether it’s the greatest gangster director of all time, critical darlings who always seemed to be too camera shy, or big-time Action directors, it seemed like there was nobody Entourage couldn’t get.
Peter Berg - S5 E11
Peter Berg is the least surprising director to appear on Entourage. Berg has a great working relationship with Mark Wahlberg, as the two have worked together on five movies, including Patriot’s Day, Lone Survivor, and Deepwater Horizon, and as Wahlberg is the executive producer of the show, he clearly called in a few favors to the director. However, as Berg acts like a jerk on the show, he’s clearly having fun with being in front of the camera for a change.
Paul Haggis - S3 E5
Though Paul Haggis has been a well-known director for decades now, his reputation is really only built on one movie, the multi-award-winning Crash. The director featured in Entourage when Vincent was trying to get Medellin, his passion project about Pablo Escobar, off the ground - and turned to Haggis for directing duties. Haggis only had a couple of scenes in the show, but Entourage was able to use that short time to blast his directing style.
Gus Van Sant - S5 E12
Though Gus Van Sant’s name isn’t flung around with the likes of Steven Spielberg, the director is in a tier of his own, as he is responsible for a ton of awards darlings, including Good Will Hunting and Elephant.
He features in the show when Vincent is at his absolute lowest and is desperate to get a role in Sant’s new movie. Sant does Vince the favor of watching the dailies of his film that’s currently in post-prodution, but he doesn’t love it and gives Vince one of the worst phone calls of his life.
Brett Ratner - S3 E19
Just like many of the real-life actors in the show, Brett Ratner can be seen living an incredibly lavish lifestyle in Entourage, as his house is a miniature Playboy Mansion of its own. He appears in the show when Drama is offered to audition for the director for his upcoming movie, only it doesn’t exactly go to plan and it’s one of the many times when Drama is completely humiliated.
Nick Cassavetes - Season 7
Though you’d never know it from looking at him, but Nick Cassavetes, the guy with neck tattoos and a penchant for actors doing their own stunts, also directed The Notebook. The filmmaker is clearly great at his job and is the go-to director for studios who want the job done with no messing around, and that’s exactly how he comes across in Entourage. In the first two episodes of season seven, he forces Vince into the driver’s seat of a stunt vehicle that, of course, goes terribly wrong.
Frank Darabont - S5 E8
Frank Darabont has directed some of the best on-screen adaptations of novels, including The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile to name a few.
With Darabont’s work on classic Stephen King material, when Vincent meets up with the director at a boujee coffee shop in Hollywood, he thinks he’s going to be offered the role of the lifetime. Unfortunately, Darabont is the bearer of bad news, as he tells Vince he’s no longer a movie lead, and offers him a small part in a TV show that he’s producing.
Edward Burns - Season 3
As most people know Edward Burns for being an actor, a lot of people may not know that he is actually an acclaimed director too. Burns was at the helm of several '90s and 2000s romantic comedies, and in 2015, he even directed the TV drama, Public Morals, which harkens back to his role on Entourage. In Entourage, Burns was heavily featured throughout season three, as he was creating a crime drama, which cast Vincent’s brother Johnny Drama in the lead role.
Peter Jackson - S4 E8
Thanks to helming the Lord of the Rings movies, Peter Jackson is one of the highest-grossing directors of the decade, making close to $3 billion at the worldwide box office in the 2010s, and it’s mostly thanks to how he has completely revolutionized visual effects. Jackson doesn’t appear in the show for long, but when he does show up, he’s hilariously sword fighting his crew in mOrion capture outfits.
M. Night Shyamalan - S4 E4
Being just as mysterious in real life as his movies, M. Night Shyamalan is known for shocking twist endings, and it’s part of the reason why he has been such a successful filmmaker. Writing screenplays that leave readers in awe, Shyamalan cleverly watermarks all of his scripts, and when he gives one to Ari, he forces him to read the whole thing overnight, but not before Ari ends up losing it.
James Cameron - Season 2
In a show filled with literally hundreds of cameos from a-list actors, one of the best cameos in the show out of all of them is James Cameron’s. However, it’s more than just a cameo as Cameron features prominently in the show throughout the second season. The director casts Vincent as Aquaman, and the show makes fun of the director’s obsession with shooting movies in water. It’s one of a surprising amount of movies that Entourage has accurately predicted.
Martin Scorsese - S5 E12
Between this and Curb Your Enthusiasm, Martin Scorsese seemed to enjoy popping up randomly in HBO comedies in the mid 2000s. In Entourage, Scorsese turns up at the end of a rough season for Vince like a guardian angel. Scorsese tells Vince that he is directing an adaptation of The Great Gatsby and he wants the young actor to be the lead, to which Vince accepts immediately. Though we only see Scorsese for 30 seconds or so, it’s always a joy to see him appear in these shows.