The Great Acting Blog: “Actor-Filmmakers”

The Great Acting Blog: “Actor-Filmmakers”

After hearing that Paddy Considine’s directorial debut, Tyrannosaur, won a couple of prizes at the recent Sundance Film Festival (a Special Jury Prize for acting, and the World Cinema Directing Award, Dramatic), I was reminded of the sheer number of actors who go on to become brilliant filmmakers. It happens too often for it to be a coincidence, and I have a theory on why so many people who spend their lives learning to act end up making great films, and it’s a subject about which I intend to write more fully in the future.

I haven’t seen Tyrannosaur yet, and only time will tell if Considine continues to act in addition to directing. In a recent interview, he seemed destined to quit acting (siting his frustration with the lack of control actors have over their work as a major reason why) and concentrate solely on directing (I believe he has already begun the process of making his second feature). If Considine did quit acting, it would be a blow at a time when the profession lacks heroes. However, it could be the case that Considine has developed a sort of Sean Penn-like ambivalence to acting, whereby proclaimed intentions to quit are never fully followed up on, Penn seems unable to break completely from acting, as his continuing body of work attests. And perhaps the same will be true of Considine, acting does have a strange lure once it gets into your bloodstream, it’s certainly not a rational career choice. Having said that, I have noticed a dip in the intensity of Considine’s performances (which is not true of Penn), and that dip is the surest sign that an actor has had enough*. Whatever happens, I am intrigued to see Tyrannosaur, and even more so after it’s success at Sundance, where it’s done well to even get a screening when you look at the ludicrous number of submissions they receive each year,** let alone win awards.

And so it is, I offer you the list of my favourite actor-filmmakers, and as so often with lists, it is entirely subjective. I write this from the heart, these are the actor-filmmakers who have affected me the most, whose work means a great deal to me. It has got nothing to do with output, infact Laughton and Oldman only made one film, neither is it to do with star power. Further, I based my choices on their acting and directing work, as oppose to one or the other.Some big hitters fail to make the list, but like I said, this list comes from the heart. I’ve also put a recommendation in brackets alongside each filmmaker, and it’s also worth noting that to qualify for the list, each filmmaker needed to have made his name as an actor before directing pictures, and as such, someone like Jim Jarmusch cannot be included. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the list, and please feel free to write your own, or champion your actor-filmmaker of choice, in the comments section.

The list is in no particular order.

Luc Moullet (Anatomy Of A Relationship)

Jerzy Skolimowski (Walkover)

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Love Is Colder Than Death)

John Cassavetes (Faces)

Orson Welles (Touch Of Evil)

 Woody Allen (Hannah And Her Sisters)

Sean Penn (The Crossing Guard)

Gary Oldman (Nil By Mouth)

Peter Mullan (Orphans)

Charles Laughton (Night Of The Hunter)

Takeshi Kitano (Hanna-Bi)

Aki Kaurismaki (The Liar as actor, I Hired A Contract Killer as director)

Maurice Pialat (A Nos Amours)

Allen Baron (Blast Of Silence)

Samantha Morton (The Unloved)

Joao Cesar Monteiro (God’s Comedy)

Jacques Tati (Mon Oncle)

Fang Song (Memories Look At Me)

Buster Keaton (The Cameraman)

Nigel Patrick (Johnny Nobody)

Lon Chaney (The Phantom Of The Opera)

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*I noticed the same thing with Mark Ruffalo, and wasn’t surprised when he said recently that he now struggles with the intensity of performance. Further, Ruffalo also attempted the switch to filmmaking but found he couldn’t make a living at it, and so stuck to acting.

**Sundance receives over 3000 feature film submissions each year, and screens only around 120 films.