The 30 Best Actor-Writers

In the history of Hollywood, there have been plenty of hyphenates. Actress-model, writer-director, rapper-actor, and whatever Jennifer Lopez wants to call herself. And the film industry has seen its fair share of triple- and quadruple-threats, too. One of the most natural double-duty progressions has been the actor-writer—that rare breed of thespian who is bold enough to write his or her own material, and talented enough to pull it off.

Actor-writers are, of course, not a newfangled breed of moviemaker. One need only look back on the careers of Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, and John Cassavetes to know that they’ve been in the creative mix since the advent of cinema. But their ranks have been expanding in recent years, as George Clooney’s The Monuments Men attests. And who are today’s most talented of the bunch?

In order to determine that, we set a few criteria: the actor-writer must be currently active, must have written at least one feature-length screenplay, and he or she must be talented enough in both disciplines that each title—actor and writer—could stand on its own (sorry, Quentin Tarantino). Here are our picks for The 30 Best Actor-Writers.

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Most notable projects: Child of God (2013), Palo Alto (2013)

Of course James Franco made this list. At this point in his prolific, omnipresent career, dude is basically a shoe-in for any list about actors who also perform other tasks—meaning, whenever that epic “The Best Actor-Gardeners” list gets done, your boy Franco will be in there. His chrysanthemum game is no joke, apparently.

In addition to directing indie movies, Franco has also penned the screenplays for his adaptations of literary favorites by Cormac McCarthy (Child of God) and William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying), adding onto his author’s portfolio that also included the fiction books Palo Alto and Actors Anonymous. Granted, he’s a far better actor than writer, but there’s something to be said for a Hollywood workhorse who’s able to generate prestigious indies all on his own.

Most notable project: Tropic Thunder (2008)

Long before he was Jennifer Aniston's fiance, Justin Theroux was an actor. You probably know him from American Psycho, Mulholland Drive, Zoolander and/or Six Feet Under. Then he became a writer, penning the scripts for Tropic Thunder (with Ben Stiller), Iron Man 2, and Rock of Ages.

Most notable projects: Celeste & Jesse Forever (2012)

When you're not getting the projects you want, write it for yourself. That's what Parks and Recreation alum Rashida Jones did with her self-penned romantic comedy Celeste and Jesse Forever. Prior to giving herself her own starring role, Jones was relegated to supporting roles in films such as I Love You, Man and The Social Network.

Fun fact: Jones also wrote a Paris Hilton-inspired comic, titled Frenemy of the State.

Most notable project: The Foot Fist Way (2006)

Assholes don't come much more likable than the string of button-pushing loudmouths that Danny McBride has played over the past decade, many of them—including The Foot Fist Way's Fred Simmons and Eastbound & Down's Kenny Powers—partially of his own creation.

Most notable project: Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2011)

Like many other actors to emerge from the Judd Apatow School of Filmmaking, Jason Segel has branched out to the production side of things. In 2008, he wrote and starred in the surprise hit Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which led to additional opportunities to write more of his own material in both The Muppets and The Five-Year Engagement.

Most notable project: Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)

Tyler Perry has become a brand unto himself, having amassed more than three dozen credits in little more than a decade as a writer, actor, director, and producer, too. While he continues to run a production empire down in Atlanta, Perry has kept busy with acting roles in other people's projects, including a starring role in David Fincher's upcoming Gone Girl.

Most notable project: Tiny Furniture (2010)

Lena Dunham is yet another Judd Apatow protege, only her connection to the producing powerhouse didn't begin as an actress. Much like her character in the HBO series Girls—which won her two Golden Globes in 2013, for Best Actress and Best Television Series—Dunham has been forging her own path since very early on in her career.

In 2009, she created the popular Web series Delusional Downtown Divas, and in the same year released her first feature, Creative Nonfiction. She gained even more widespread attention the following year with Tiny Furniture, which won Dunham an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay and can be seen as a creative precursor to Girls.

Most notable projects Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)

George Clooney proved he was more than just another pretty face in 2006, when he earned a trio of Oscar nominations, one as a Supporting Actor in Syriana (which he won) and another two as Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Good Night, and Good Luck.

Clooney has continued to make it look easy in the years since, dominating Hollywood's legion of quadruple threats; he's also a prolific producer, and won his second Oscar last year in that capacity for Argo.

Most notable project: The Descendants (2011)

When Jim Rash stepped onto the stage at the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony, many viewers were confused as to why Community's Dean Pelton was at the Oscars. But his reason was simple: he was there to accept his golden guy for co-writing Alexander Payne's The Descendants. Rash's writing career is really only just getting started, but he's building an impressive resume, which now also includes 2013's The Way Way Back.

Most notable projects: Sling Blade (1996), All the Pretty Horses (2000)

Though Billy Bob Thornton has been working regularly as a film and television actor since the mid-1980s, his ascent to Hollywood's A-list came when he decided to make his own luck by writing, directing, and starring in 1996's Sling Blade. The film earned Thornton his first and (so far) only Oscar, for Best Adapted Screenplay. And changed the path of his career from that of a working actor to that of a successful actor-writer-director, with films like All the Pretty Horses, Daddy and Them, and Jayne Mansfield's Car to his credit.

Most notable projects: Game Change (2012), The Hunger Games (2012)

Danny Strong isn't quite a household name (yet), but you've undoubtedly seen him in something. The 39-year-old has racked up more than 40 acting credits over the past two decades, many of them recurring television roles, including gigs on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Mad Men, and Justified. But his most acclaimed work has happened behind the camera, as the writer of Recount, Game Change (for which he won two Emmys), The Butler, and The Hunger Games.

Most notable projects: Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) and The Future (2011)

Considering her body of work as an artist, writer, actor, and filmmaker, it's easy to imagine that Miranda July would be great at any creative endeavor she decided to tackle. Though her filmography is still relatively tiny—she has written and directed two features, Me and You and Everyone We Know and The Future—she has earned enough accolades in such a short period of time to ensure that whatever she does next will be just as celebrated.

Most notable project: Dead Man Walking (1995)

He's been a well-known actor for 30 years, a craft that earned him his first and only Oscar in 2004, as Best Supporting Actor in Mystic River. But some of Tim Robbins' most impressive work has actually occurred behind the camera, most notably as the writer-director of 1992's Bob Roberts, 1995's Dead Man Walking (the film that earned him his first Oscar nod, as Best Director) and 1999's under-seen Cradle Will Rock.

Most notable projects: Mean Girls (2004)

Long before you ever knew what Tina Fey looked like, you were familiar with her writing. She began writing for Saturday Night Live in 1997, and by the time she took over the Weekend Update desk with Jimmy Fallon, had been the show's head writer for a year. And though television definitely seems to be her preferred medium (read: 30 Rock), it's Fey we have to thank for Mean Girls.

Most notable projects: The Visitor (2007), Up (2009), Win Win (2011)

Like Danny Strong, Tom McCarthy is one of those characters actors whose face is more readily recognizable than his name. And he's probably best known from Meet the Parents, Michael Clayton or the final season of The Wire. But for more than a decade, he's been quietly building one of the independent film world's most impressive resumes, as the writer-director of such critically acclaimed films as 2003's The Station Agent, 2007's The Visitor, and 2011's Win Win. He's also got one foot planted firmly in the family-friendly world: he wrote the script for the upcoming Disney movie Million Dollar Arm and won an Oscar for his work on Up.

Most notable project: Away From Her (2006)

Sarah Polley got her start as a child actor and spent her teen years working with the likes of Canadian auteur Atom Egoyan in such critically-acclaimed films as Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter. She must have been paying close attention, because in 1999—at the age of 20—Polley began writing and directing her own work, too. In 2008, she earned an Oscar nomination for the script for Away from Her, which she also directed.

Most notable project: The Puffy Chair (2005)

When one considers how in demand Mark Duplass has become as an actor—with roles in both The League and The Mindy Project among the more than two dozen credits he has earned in the past decade—it's hard to imagine that he has time for anything else. But Duplass' first job is as a filmmaker. Alongside his brother Jay, "The Duplass Brothers" have written and directed five features in less than a decade, beginning with 2005's The Puffy Chair.

Most notable project: Drinking Buddies (2013)

Joe Swanberg's worn many hats for about a decade now and has been a pioneer in the current surge DIY indie filmmaking. While his early films received love on microlevel, think Hannah Takes the Stairs and LOL, the writer/actor/director, who usually makes a cameo in his own films, is making it to the forefront of Hollywood with Drinking Buddies and his Sundance darling, Happy Christmas.

Most notable project: The Invention of Lying (2009)

Like Tina Fey, the bulk of Ricky Gervais' work—particularly as a writer—has been for the small screen, as the co-creator of some of television's most brilliantly funny series, including The Office and Extras. But he's gotten plenty of acting work in projects that are not by his own pen, including this spring's Muppets Most Wanted.

But it's always easy to tell a Gervais script when you hear it, which for the big screen has included The Invention of Lying and Cemetery Junction. We can only pray that the rumors of a David Brent film for 2015 are true.

Most notable projects: The Rocky franchise

Sly Stallone’s legacy as an almighty cinematic ass-whooper is no mystery, but his standing as an Oscar-nominated screenwriter? Doesn’t get as much recognition as it should.

All of the Rocky series’ tension, drama, and inspirational scenes in which Balboa beats the piss out of frozen meats and scales mountain-tops and large staircases? Indeed, those have all come from Stallone’s imagination. The brains behind the entire Rocky franchise, Stallone is the rare action movie star who flexes his muscles behind the scenes as much as he does on camera. Aside from those boxing classics, he’s also written both Expendables films, Cliffhanger, and, just to show that he’s not all brawn, Staying Alive, the 1983 sequel to Saturday Night Fever. But the less said about that one, the better.

Most notable project: Zoolander (2001)

To hear Ben Stiller tell it, he never intended to have a career in front of the camera; his goal was always to be a director. But fate intervened in order to make Ben Stiller one of Hollywood's best-known faces, which has actually made it easier for him to produce the kinds of comedies he wants to be making. And while he is more often found wearing the hat of producer and/or director, two of his most notable directorial achievements—Zoolander and Tropic Thunder—were partially scripted by Stiller.

Most notable projects: Billy Madison (1995), Happy Gilmore (1996)

In the drudgery of his recent string of abysmal comedies, it’s easy to forget that, at one time, Adam Sandler was the funniest guy in Hollywood—at least for lovers of self-aware moron comedy. Back when he everything he touched was hilarious, Sandler both starred in and co-wrote the best funny movies he’d ever make, including Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and Big Daddy.

So, yes, you have the Sandman to thank for classic bits like “Mr. Penguin,” “You jackass!” and “Scuba Steve,” all of which have given him enough good will to leave the crap he’s written (see: Little Nicky, Grown Ups, Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star) as insufferable deterrents, not complete deal-breakers. Well, OK, not for everyone.

Most notable projects: Defending Your Life (2001), Looking for Comedy in a Muslim World (2005)

First things first: if you're not already following Albert Brooks on Twitter, go and do that now. Then tweet to tell him that it's been far too long since he wrote and directed a movie (2005's highly underrated Looking for Comedy in a Muslim World). Between 1979 and 2005, Brooks created more than a half-dozen comedies that dealt with everything from dysfunctional relationships to international relations in a post-9/11 America. Yet his one and only Oscar nomination comes as an actor, in 1987's Broadcast News.

More recent years have seen Brooks move beyond the yuppie characters he made famous in the '80s. To kids, he's clearly the voice of Marlin in Finding Nemo. And he's proven he's got a bit of a tough-guy streak by kicking ass (or at least attempting to) in Drive.

Most notable projects: Good Will Hunting (1997), Gone Baby Gone (2007)

It may sound funny to say this, given that he won his first Oscar—alongside Matt Damon, for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting—at the age of 25. But Ben Affleck has matured with age, not just as an actor, but as a writer-director, too. After doing his time in the paparazzi spotlight as one half of Bennifer, the couple that originated the nicknaming trend, Affleck dropped out of sight for a while. And his re-emergence was a notably impressive one.

In 2007, he co-wrote and directed Gone Baby Gone, an adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel. In 2010 he did it again, this time with a Chuck Hogan novel to create The Town, in which he also took a starring role. Last year he won his second Oscar for Argo, which he directed and starred in, cementing his reputation as a bona fide triple-threat.

Most notable project: Pineapple Express (2008),This Is the End (2013)

James Franco may have him beat in terms of prolificacy and diversity, but of all Judd Apatow's former Freaks and Geeks, Seth Rogen may have the most Hollywood clout. After getting his start in the writer's rooms of Undeclared and Da Ali G Show, Rogen—with his longtime friend and writing partner, Evan Goldberg—has contributed his words to some of the most original comedies to come out of Hollywood in the past decade, Superbad, Pineapple Express, and This is the End among them. He has also kept active in television, penning one-off scripts for The Simpsons and The League.

Most notable projects: 2 Days in Paris (2007), Before Midnight (2013)

After joining Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise, the actress decided to lend her scripting talents for a joint collaboration with the director on the sequels Before Sunset and Before Midnight, all of which have become classics.

But Delpy doesn't always need a team to churn out an excellent screenplay. When it comes to solo projects, she wrote, directed, and starred in both 2 Days in Paris and 2 Days in New York. Essentially, Julie Delpy's got the "triple-threat" shtick on lock, especially when it comes to romantic dramedies.

Most notable projects: She's Gotta Have It (1986), Do the Right Thing (1989)

In the late 1980s and '90s, one of the surest ways to tell a Spike Lee film was that the writer-director likely starred in it, too. Though he did appear in 2012's Red Hook Summer, Lee has apparently decided to leave the on-camera roles to his actors. But considering the on-screen energy he brought to movies like She's Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, and Malcolm X, we miss Spike: The Actor.

Most notable projects: Annie Hall (1977)

It's difficult to talk about Woody Allen, especially right now. And ultimately, it's up to the viewer to decide whether they can find artistic value in his work. For better or for worse, we can still find merit in his films and performances. (Though it's easier with some than others. Manhattan, despite its technical excellence, is tough to watch for its content.)

Like his fellow New Yorker Spike Lee, Woody Allen's turns as an actor have been far less frequent in recent years. Yes, even despite the fact that one of his 24 Oscar nominations is actually as a leading man (for 1977's Annie Hall). But that hasn't stopped Allen from making the occasional appearance in a non-Woody Allen film, most recently in fellow talented actor-writer John Turturro's Fading Gigolo, which will hit theaters in April.

Most notable project: Sense and Sensibility (1996)

Emma Thompson doesn't get a lot of ink for her scripting abilities, even though she won an Oscar for them in 1996 for Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility. But Thompson has been contributing words to her own material for more than 30 years now, most recently with Wit, the Nanny McPhee series and this year's Effie Gray. Thompson is also one of three writers credited on Will Gluck's upcoming Annie adaptation.

Most notable projects: Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003)

In more recent years, Christopher Guest's forays in front of the camera have mostly been for his own projects like Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration and Family Tree. But throughout much of the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, the bulk of Guest's work was a character actor and voice artist, where he's racked up nearly 100 film and television credits.