10 Actors Who Found Success as Screenwriters
Emma Thompson
Some actors-turned-writers abandon the page after brief success, but not Emma Thompson. The actress won the Oscar and Golden Globe for scripting Sense & Sensibility (which she also starred in), but she's continued writing since, scripting three more vehicles for herself: the Emmy-nominated Wit for HBO, and both Nanny McPhee movies.
Dan Futterman
When Dan Futterman was Oscar-nominated for writing the film Capote in 2005, he had a perfectly respectable acting career going (Judging Amy, Will & Grace, The Birdcage) and one big part to come opposite Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart. However, Futterman's since become a full-time writer, and in addition to showrunning the next season of In Treatment, he's got new projects set up at HBO and Columbia Pictures.
Justin Theroux
Actor Justin Theroux (Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Six Feet Under) made his debut as a director with 2007's Dedication, but it didn't quite take. He's had far more success as a screenwriter, cowriting tentpoles like Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2 and being hired to pen the comedy Space Invader for Will Arnett.
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Comments
How can you leave off Stallone? Not only did he write himself that inspiring movie (that spawned 5 more movies over a span of 30 years), he also co-wrote Rambo, one of the greatest motion pictures of all time. Mostly because it involves a scene where Rambo builds his own knife while talking about how much God hates him. And yet, no awards for that brilliant piece of writing, while "It's not your fault" repeated 20 times equals Oscar gold. That, my friends, is writing.
How can you leave off William Goldman? Not only did he not write "Good Will Hunting" but he didn't write "Good Will Hunting".
How can you leave off Owen Wilson? The Stallion was Wes Anderson's better half. Baumbach can suck it.
Just to point out the bleeding obvious omission, Kyle: Sofia Coppola makes a better writer/director than she does a Corleone, no? (Unless, of course, we're talking Parts I & II where she has no lines. That shit I can live with)
Oh, and to counter-balance that hint of snark re: Affleck & Damon...Damon's gone on to have a mega-successful acting career since Good Will Hunting, while Affleck struggled to have any credibility after that JLo debacle -- going on to co-adapt two screenplays, so let's not go crazy praising his writing abilities. 😛
We have a winner!
Clark Gregg-actor(New adventures of old christine)Also wrote What LIES Beneath-a Blockbuster!!!!
Grant Heslov starred in True Lies, Congo, Black Sheep and The Birdcage but now he writes Good Night and Good Luck and directed The Men Who Stare at Goats.
Not forgetting David Hayter??? He started out as an actor and is still an accomplished voice actor. He wrote the screenplays for X-Men, The Scorpion King, X-Men 2 and Watchmen
how can you not put Owen Wilson.
the thing thats ironic is that with most of the movies that he's acting on(drillbit taylor, starsky and hutch etc...), you'd think that Owen Wilson is a dumb blond guy. yet, when you look at the films that he Co-wrote with Wes Anderson, he writes better movies than his best films as an actor. 'Tenenbaums' and 'Rushmore' is definetly better than 'Wedding Crashers'.
You left out Emma Thompson who won an Oscar for Best Screenplay for Sense & Sensibility. She also wrote Nanny McPhee and will pen the script for My Fair Lady remake.
Never mind my last comment, for some strange reason I completely missed Emma Thompson! 🙂 So glad to see her on your list.
Good Night and Good Luck maybe, but Goats is hardly a movie by any standard--good job bringing that up Randhir; way to put salt on a wound.
That's a very loose definition of "success". From the title I presumed you meant actors such as Julian Fellowes who have won awards for their screenplays. (Indeed I think Danny Strong won one.)
Carrie Fisher has done pretty well as a screenwriter/script doctor.
No Billy Bob Thornton?
Yes, I second Carrie Fisher. She should've made the list for certain.
No Roberto Benigni or Ben Stiller?
Stallone and Stiller should be here...the article was/is titled TEN actors, there was only nine when I read it??? Can't count? Glad whoever made this list isn't a screenwriter...
Count again. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are two people.