Spotlight on some actor-directors who fare better behind the camera than in front of it

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood is a great actor. As a director, he’s even better. The poster boy of the Spaghetti Western in the 1960s, Eastwood embodied Sergio Leone’s iconic ‘The Man with No Name’ and brought to life the memorable anti-hero cop Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry films, becoming an enduring symbol of cultural masculinity.

Watching a Clint Eastwood film has been a rite of passage for many, but the man’s more memorable (and diverse) outings have, in fact, been the films he’s directed. Unforgiven to The Bridges of Madison County, Million Dollar Baby to American Sniper, Mystic River to Changeling, Eastwood — who plunged into direction in 1971 — has well and truly mixed things up as a film-maker (he’s directed himself in some), giving us films that have been both box-office blockbusters as well as garnered critical acclaim.

The fact that all his Oscars have come for films he’s directed (he’s been nominated as actor twice) speak the story. At 90, the man continues to be an energetic powerhouse behind the camera, churning out at least one film a year, the latest being Richard Jewell in end-2019.

Ben Affleck

Despite his screen turn in many a seminal film — Dazed and Confused to Good Will Hunting to Gone Girl, among some others — Ben Affleck has never really won many plaudits as an actor. His permanent hangdog demeanour and largely wooden screen presence has, in fact, undone many a good film, the final nail on the coffin being his disastrous act as Batman in the Zack Snyder-directed films.

No complaints about Affleck the film-maker, though. Turning to direction after a career downturn in 2007, Affleck, now 47, made his feature-length directorial debut with the neo-noir thriller Gone Baby Gone that won him unbridled praise. The smartly written and well-directed Town, a thriller revolving around a bank heist, followed, but it was the 2012 film Argo — a real-to-reel story of a daredevil rescue mission playing out in the middle of the Iran hostage crisis of the late ’70s-early ’80s — a bonafide hit, winning Affleck (who also starred in the film’s central role) a Best Picture Oscar, that established him as a film-maker to reckon with.

That Affleck is a far better storyteller than actor was, in fact, established much before he became a director — Good Will Hunting won him and his actor-pal Matt Damon an Oscar for Best Screenplay as early as 1997.

Jon Favreau

Making his acting debut in the 1990s and appearing in films like Rudy, Swingers and Daredevil,

Jon Favreau has been an indelible part of the Marvel Cinema Universe, serving not only as executive producer and making a mark as the memorable Happy Hogan in the Iron Man films, but also going behind the camera to direct the first two Iron Man films, showing us the kind of remarkable storytelling ease and ‘go big or go home’ thematic quality he brings in as a film-maker.

Today, with some of the biggest Hollywood films in recent times under his directorial belt — the smash-hit live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book in 2016 to the 2019 retelling of The Lion King — Favreau is one of the most exciting film-makers around. What’s noteworthy is his ability to helm the tent pole summer successes as effortlessly as an intimate production like Chef. The common factor: all his films as director have tremendous repeat value.

Rob Reiner

Shooting into the spotlight as Michael Stivic in the sitcom All in the Family, a turn that earned him two Primetime Emmy Awards, Rob Reiner made a few more films as actor, none of which were particularly memorable.

But it’s as a director that the now 73-year-old has been far more prolific, giving us films as iconic as When Harry Met Sally and A Few Good Men, besides some others of import like A Spinal Tap, Stand By Me and Misery. Reiner’s films in recent years may not have reached the heights of When Harry Met Sally or A Few Good Men (both landmark films in their respective genres), but his 2016 film LBJ — a look at Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidential turn in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination — has shown that Reiner still has what it takes.

Taika Waititi

First things first, Taika Waititi is primarily a film-maker. But his recent turn as a fanciful and comic version of Adolf Hitler in Jojo Rabbit, a film that he audaciously helmed (like most of his directorial outings and which also won him an Adapted Screenplay Oscar), has well and truly thrust him into the spotlight as an actor who can deliver. And who can forget his hilarious turn as Korg in that fun scene featuring Hulk and Thor in Avengers: Endgame?

But the New Zealand-born maverick film-maker’s true talent lies behind the camera. Waititi singlehandedly gave an adrenaline boost to the Thor franchise with his off-centre treatment of Thor: Ragnarok. What the man brings to his films is a mixture of irreverence and oddball humour, which also creeps into the rare acting parts he takes up. Here’s looking at more from you, Taika!

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