If you're an actor who's frustrated with what Hollywood gives you, there's always one good backup plan: Write your own stuff! Lately, more and more actors have begun writing scripts on the side, and today's trades had two such stories. What better time for Movieline to look at 10 actors who've managed some notable screenwriting success?
Charlie Hunnam
Hunnam may be a screenwriting neophyte, but at least he's been adjacent to writing royalty -- he used to be married to actress Katharine Towne, whose father Robert wrote Chinatown, Shampoo, and The Last Detail. Now, Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy, Queer as Folk UK) is striking out with his own script Vlad, which will be directed by Anthony Mandler and produced by Brad Pitt. Whether Hunnam will star as the young Dracula remains to be seen.
Madeleine Stowe
For years, Hollywood tended to think of Madeleine Stowe (Last of the Mohicans, Blink) as a professional love interest, and that's why she and actor-husband Brian Benben slapped the pseudonym "O.C. Humphrey" on their 2003 script Unbound Captives. The screenplay was a sensation, with Fox offering Stowe millions and a Ridley Scott/Russell Crowe talent package, but Stowe declined when the studio wouldn't cast her as the female lead. Six years later, Stowe is instead gearing up to direct the film, with Rachel Weisz, Hugh Jackman, and Robert Pattinson starring.
Danny Strong
You may know Danny Strong as Buffy the Vampire Slayer's hapless Jonathan (or as the Yale Daily News editor on Gilmore Girls), but the frequent TV actor has forged a second career for himself as a screenwriter. Strong scripted Jay Roach's Recount, an HBO film about the 2000 presidential election, and is currently writing The Crusaders for director Gary Ross and star Tobey Maguire.
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.
Jay Baruchel
Jay Baruchel comes from the Judd Apatow farm of actors where writing credits are almost mandatory (think Seth Rogen and Jason Segel), but it's notable that on the same day that Hunnam's Vlad project was announced, Variety mentioned that hockey comedy Goon will soon go into production, featuring a script cowritten by Baruchel and Rogen's writing partner Evan Goldberg.
Sarah Polley
After toplining hits like Go and Zach Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, Sarah Polley could have carved out a career for herself playing the brainy young ingenue. Instead, Polley parlayed that capital into making Away From Her, the Julie Christie Alzheimer's drama that earned Polley an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Matt Damon & Ben Affleck
No list of actor/writers would be complete without Matt Damon and Ben Affleck; however, it's just as interesting to see how much writing each has done separately since. Damon's only other writing credit came for the mostly improvised Gus van Sant film Gerry, while Affleck scripted his directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, and his upcoming film The Town.