6 Great Movies Directed by Comedic Actors
When you think of actors-turned-directors, names like Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and even Angelina Jolie come to mind. The thing they all have in common? They’re dramatic actors. For some reason, there’s a pipeline baked into the Hollywood system that makes it easier for dramatic actors to cross the threshold from set to director’s seat. They’re seen as people who have an inherent understanding of filmmaking, more so than their comedic counterparts. What makes that strange is that storytelling is a crucial component of comedy.
That said, these six comedic actors have proven that they also have the chops to sit behind the camera and produce some great results…
‘A Quiet Place,’ John Krasinski
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After stepping out of Emily Blunt and breakout performances from child actor Noah Jupe and deaf actress Millicent Simmonds, who was specifically cast as someone who could bring a level of authenticity to the script that a non-deaf actress could not.
‘Chef,’ Jon Favreau
With appearances in everything from Iron Man and The Lion King, his best work behind the camera is the charming, feel-good 2014 indie Chef. Its scale obviously pales in comparison to his big-budget efforts, but the father-son comedy has enough heart to keep a fleet of food trucks running.
‘Eighth Grade,’ Bo Burnham
‘Reality Bites,’ Ben Stiller
It’s totally fair that much of Stiller’s flair as a director gets credited to his 2008 war satire Tropic Thunder. But there’s another little film under Stiller’s belt that’s just as noteworthy. In fact, it was his directorial debut. While it wasn’t as immediately beloved as some of his other works, Reality Bites went on to achieve the “cult status” that’s often longer-lasting than instant fanfare and acclaim. The film’s resurgence is credited to great performances by Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke and how deftly Stiller captured the zeitgeist of the early 1990s, something films are still struggling with today.
‘Get Out,’ Jordan Peele
When Key & Peele. But just like the film in question, Peele subverted expectations when he released the psychological horror Get Out in 2017. It was a torpedo to the industry that tackled race, class and politics in an entirely new and unexpected way (even with a little comedy here and there). It would go on to a small class of films that have overcome the Academy’s strange prejudice against the horror genre, nabbing four Oscar nominations and earning Peele a golden statuette for the wholly original screenplay.
