Word: actorisms
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...most actors, it's a long climb from player to coach. In the silent era, pioneer director D.W. Griffith had entered movies as an actor; Charlie Chaplin directed all his own features. But from the start of the Academy Awards in 1928 through the '70s, only two actors turned directors won even an Oscar nomination for directing: Orson Welles for Citizen Kane and Laurence Olivier for Hamlet. And they were so mammoth, so legendary, that few actors dared imitate them. The auteur corps was replenished by craftsmen who made their names as writers, cameramen and editors and by directors imported...
Finally, in the '60s, when the studio system was collapsing, a few imposing actors--Marlon Brando, John Cassavetes, Paul Newman--seized the reins. In the '70s, Woody Allen (who would be the first actor to win a Director Oscar, for Annie Hall) and Clint Eastwood (who would win a directing Oscar for Unforgiven) became full-time hyphenates. Studios realized that letting a star direct could keep him happy and busy. At times it paid off in grosses and statuettes...
...career, as it did for Danny DeVito, who has kept busy on both sides since the success of his first two directorial efforts, Throw Momma from the Train and The War of the Roses. DeVito enjoys doing both at once: "For me, it's about losing control as an actor--being able to be free--while keeping control as the director. It's schizophrenic, but it's really good...
...novice actor-director, it can be a thrilling, daunting rite of passage. Says Matt Dillon, who directed his first feature, City of Ghosts, last year: "There's a lot of stuff you have to fight for. Constantly. Especially budget and schedule constraints. Postproduction was a whole new ballgame. A lot of opinions came up in the editing room." He sounds like a contestant on Fear Factor but adds, "Directing is a great job. You just have to have a cool head and trust your instincts...
...look at the new Washington, Cage and Clooney films is to see the actors' personalities reflected and refracted in their directorial work. Antwone Fisher, at heart an interview between a Navy psychiatrist (Washington) and a troubled, gifted young seaman (Derek Luke) in search of a father figure, has the thoughtfulness, the heroic withholding of rage that Washington the actor has lent to so many of his characters. The movie (from a true story, written by the real Antwone Fisher) takes its power from the authenticity of its emotions. The director is typically modest about his effort. He says, "I like...