Then She Found Me

The Six Pack

Six unexpected directorial debuts from actors.

by Matt Prigge

Robert Montgomery, Lady in the Lake (1947): Nowadays it’s expected for every actor to harbor not-so-secret designs on the director’s chair. So when Robert Montgomery (They Were Expendable, Mr. and Mrs. Smith) announced he was personally tackling Raymond Chandler, the only thing stranger was the film’s gimmick. See, while Montgomery “stars” as Philip Marlowe, the majority of the film was shot from his perspective—an idea that sounds cool until you actually see it.

Johnny Depp, The Brave (1997): In that uncertain period before his post-Pirates superstardom, Capt. Jack made this preachy, unsightly and so far only directorial outing, playing a Native American (or so the film says) who agrees to let an eyeshadow-wearing Marlon Brando kill him so he can give the money to his destitute family. After its disastrous Cannes debut, Depp kept it from reaching his homeland.

Jeff Daniels, Escanaba in da Moonlight (2001): Little known about the perpetually underrated actor is that he’s directed two broad comedies that have been huge hits in the Midwest but would horrify anyone in a state boasting even a little blue. In Escanaba, Daniels plays a Michigan man who goes on a flatulence-heavy trip to the woods. In 2002’s Super Sucker, he sells vacuums door-to-door. Look, Daniels can basically do whatever he wants.

Matt Dillon, City of Ghosts (2002): Just as he was about to be typecast in comedies like There’s Something About Mary, the onetime Flamingo Kid dragged a cadre of character actors off to Cambodia for this atmospheric and vaguely pointless romp. No square-jawed stud he. Dillon is weird.

James Franco, The Ape (2005): What lurks beneath that smirk and that greasy-haired melon? A comedy about a writer who shares an apartment with a anthropomorphic, foul-mouthed, Hawaiian-shirt-wearing primate. Duh.

Helen Hunt, Then She Found Me (2007): It’s not unexpected that the Oscar-winner would debut with a romantic comedy. It’s that, by many accounts, it’s not supposed to be remotely as evil as “a movie by Helen Hunt” sounds.