Actors with Stunning Directorial Debuts
The film industry is an ever-changing and constantly evolving almost living mechanism. And as people progress forward — the industry, and the rules it follows, progress as well. And so come some amazing directorial debuts.
Hollywood is slowly starting to change its division principles. Editors can now be cinematographers, stuntmen can be actors, writers can be producers — soon, a priciniple of a general Hollywood creative could be easily applied. This probably emerges from the recent creative trend of ‘making your own work’ — everyone has a voice and everyone wants to be heard, so it makes sense that more and more people are moving to different creative mediums.
A huge shift, especially in the recent 5-10 years, is a new emerging wave of actors-directors. Specifically, young actors who are turning to directing. Some fail; other, fortunately for us consumers, do the exact opposite and completely subvert expectations. This is a short congratulatory article to those actors who have, in recent years, shined so bright with stunning directorial debuts and have proven themselves not only as talented actors, but talented creatives and quality artists.
Joseph-Gordon Levitt for Don Jon
Joseph-Gordon Levitt wrote, directed, and starred in Don Jon. As a director, it’s his feature film debut after a string of rather succesful and quality shorts.
Don Jon is a stunning project. From a writing perspective, it’s a simple, yet extremely detailed and intelligent story with passion behind it and a clear creative voice. From an acting perspective, Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, and Julianne Moore exceed all expecations and manage to portray and create exquisite and truthful humans on screen.
And from a directing perspective, Don Jon does everything right. On a technical side, from the lighting through the structure to the editing, this is a beautiful film. Joseph-Gordon Levitt manages to create and follow a specific tone and masters storytelling. It’s coherent, fresh, and confident: truly a film that proves this creator is one to look out for.
Upcoming: Joseph-Gordon Levitt has announced his next project, Wingmen, starring himself and Channing Tatum. The film is described as an R-rated musical comedy about the misadventures of two pilots.
Olivia Wilde for Booksmart
Last year, Olivia Wilde made her directorial debut with Booksmart, starring Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein.
This is, once again, a fantastic project. Booksmart is really funny, heartfelt, with beautifully developped and sympathethic characters, and a more-than-worth-it story. We’ve long thought Olivia Wilde is rather unappreciated in Hollywood: she should have been an A-lister long ago. Hopefully, Booksmart serves as proof of her creative abilities and allows her to rise ever further.
We do think, personally, that Booksmart is not quite as good as Don Jon or the next film on this list. The reason is only because it follows the rules a bit too much; Olivia Wilde is still seemingly a bit scared to experiment and let her voice truly shine. But it’s still a very good project definitely worth your time — and there’s an insane continuous shot towards the end that foreshadows Wilde’s future greatness.
Upcoming: Olivia’s next project was announced just a few days ago, actually. It’s called Don’t Worry Darling and stars Florence Pugh, Shia LeBeouf, Chris Pine, and Olivia Wilde herself. What a line up! We’re sure this will be even better than Booksmart and a defining feature for Wilde’s creative voice.
Jonah Hill for Mid90s
Last on our list of fantastic directorial debuts, in 2019, Jonah Hill wrote, produced, and directed Mid90s. This is an absolutely insane project and, actually, our favorite film of last year.
Mid90s is damn incredible. The story is personal and absolutely flawless. It’s beautifully narrated, absolutely wrecking at times, manipulative (in a great way!), and different than anything we’ve seen before. The acting is top-tier level, too (which is somewhat surprising since the actors are actually skateboarders, but Jonah Hill wanted real people).
The directing, as expected, is exquisite, too. Jonah Hill truly shines here: he manages to create something awfully original, something his, something bold and innovative that shines away from all other commerial dissapointments. From the cinematography through the editing to the tone and atmosphere of the film: Mid90s is a fantastic project. Jonah Hill cuts no corners here and let’s only his own creative vision shine; and, fortunately, it works wonders. We’re definitely looking forward to see what Jonah Hill develops next.
Upcoming: Nothing announced yet, but we can see from social media Jonah Hill is currently actively working on developping and writing his next feature.
As we mentioned in the beginning, Hollywood is an ever-changing industry.
These actors creators are proof of that. We can’t wait to see what they all do next. In fact, we can’t wait to see which other actors will soon shine with their own directorial debuts. We’re sure there are some amazing surprises upcoming.
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— Pouty Boy