Top 6 Actors-Turned-Directors

I thought I might take a little detour from my usual format of film reviews and do a little segment on my personal Top 6 actors (or actresses) that have made a name for themselves behind the camera as well as in front of it.  As usual, this list is nothing but my opinion so I welcome all of your thoughts as to names I might have missed or, by your measure, shouldn’t be on the list.  Also, I am limiting the list to people who are known primarily as actors and not just directors who started off their careers with an acting gig or two.  This means however much I might have enjoyed lost in Translation or Apollo 13, you won’t find Sofia Coppolla or Ron Howard on this list.

Last note, this list is in no particular order.  Seeing as Argo just made it to #1 at the box office in it’s third weekend in theaters, I feel it only makes sense to start with…

#1:  Ben Affleck

Acting Highs:

– Goodwill Hunting (1997), Dogma (1999), State of Play (2009)

Acting Lows

– Gigli (2003), Daredevil (2003), Surviving Christmas (2004)

Directing Highs

– Gone Baby Gone (2007), The Town (2010), Argo (2012)

Directing Lows

– None so far

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#2:  Ben Stiller

Acting Highs

– There’s Something About Mary (1998), Meet the Parents (2000), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Acting Lows

 – The Heartbreak Kid (2007), Little Fockers (2010), The Watch (2012)

Directing Highs

– Zoolander (2001), Tropic Thunder (2008)

Directing Lows

– Reality Bites (1994), The Cable Guy (1996)

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#3:  George Clooney

Acting Highs

– O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Syriana (2005), Up in the Air (2009)

Acting Lows:

– Batman & Robin (1997), Ocean’s Thirteen (2007), Leatherheads (2008)

Directing Highs

– Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Good Night and Good Luck (2005), The Ides of March (2011)

Directing Lows

– Leatherheads (2008)

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#4: Jon Favreau

Acting Highs

– Swingers (1996), Made (2001), I Love You Man (2010)

Acting Lows

– Four Christmases (2008), Couples Retreat (2009), Zookeeper (2011)

Directing Highs

– Elf (2003), Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010)

Directing Lows

– Zathura (2005), Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

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#5:  Clint Eastwood 

Acting Highs

– The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1966), Dirty Harry (1971), Unforgiven (1992)

Acting Lows

– Any Which Way You Can (1980), Firefox (1982), Pink Cadillac (1989)

Directing Highs

– Unforgiven (1992), Million Dollar Baby (2004), Gran Torino (2008)

Directing Lows

– The Rookie (1990), Hereafter (2010), J. Edgar (2011)

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#6:  Kenneth Branagh

Acting Highs

– Henry V (1989), Frankenstein (1994), My Weekend With Marilyn (2011)

Acting Lows

– Wild Wild West(1999), Wild Wild West (1999), Wild Wild West (1999)

Directing Highs

– Henry V (1989), Hamlet (1996), Thor (2010)

Directing Lows

– Nothing Yet