TheAcademy Awardfor Best Picture is just about the biggest accolade Hollywood can give a movie, and a select few directors not only helmed their Oscar-winning film but also actually appeared in it. This can range from asurprise cameo appearanceto full-on leading roles, as some filmmakers leave their mark on their work by actually showing up in their own movies. While this is a feat that has not been achieved for more than 20 years, some notable directors have popped up in their award-worthy films.
Some of the greatestBest Picturewinners of all time have featured their directors in one form or another. While there are obvious examples, such as Woody Allen’s historic win forAnnie Hall, which he not only directed and starred in but also wrote himself. Other appearances were so brief that many viewers may not even realize the director was in them at all. With the history of the Academy Awardsdating back almost 100 years, it’s incredible to think thatthis achievement has only happened on nine different occasions.
9Alfred Hitchcock
Rebecca (1940)
The first time a film director ever appeared in their own Best Picture-winning movie was Alfred Hitchcock inRebecca. While this all-time great romantic psychological thriller representedHitchcock’s breakthrough success in Hollywoodand American filmmaking, this only came after decades of work through the silent era and British sound films. While Hitchcock would go on to make many more acclaimed classics, likeRear Window,Vertigo, andPsycho,Rebeccawould stand as his lone Best Picture-winning film.
In typical Hitchcock fashion, his appearance inRebeccawas a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo as a man walking past a phone booth near the film’s ending. While Hitchcock was not an actor himself, he did consistently appear in his own work, with his first appearance dating back toThe Lodger: A Story of the London Fogfrom 1927, when an actor failed to show up, and he filled the role himself. This started an ongoing tradition, and Hitchcock appeared in 40 of his own films.
8Laurence Olivier
Hamlet (1948)
Laurence Olivier was the driving force behind the 1948 adaptation of William Shakespeare’sHamlet, a movie he not only directed but actually starred in as the tragic title character. Olivier was truly one of the greatest British actors who ever lived, and his astounding body of work included many more Shakespearian productions as he excelled on stage and screen. As the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture,Hamletwas a historic win and one of the crowning achievements in its director’s career.
WhileOlivier rightfully gained the highest accolade Hollywood can offer forHamlet, the truth was Oscar records were much more far-reaching than just that. While Olivier also took home the Oscar for Best Actor forHamlet, this was his lone win in that category, although he was nominated an astounding nine times, tying with Spencer Tracy for most nominations. As a true icon of stage and screen, Olivier’sHamletremains the definitive film adaptation of this iconic tragedy.
7Woody Allen
Annie Hall (1977)
While many take issue with the fact that Woody Allen’sAnnie Hallwas awarded Best Picture above its fellow nominee,Star Wars, there’s no denying this historic moment in Hollywood history. As the only Best Picture to feature the same writer, director, and leading star,Annie Hallwas one of the few comedies to take home the coveted award. While Allen has received 16 nominations for screenwriting,Annie Hallremains the film for which he will be eternally remembered.
While this New York filmmaker has become a divisive figure in the years since,Annie Hallstill remains a trailblazing rom-com that redefined the genre and was a major influence on everything that came after it. With an incredible performance from co-star Diane Keaton, the self-referential humor and risky edge ofAnnie Halltapped into the modern sexual politics of the 1970s. As a landmark film in Allen’s transition from slapstick-based, fast-paced humor toward a more thoughtful, introspective style of filmmaking,Annie Hallwas an essential release in his vast filmography.
6Oliver Stone
Platoon (1986)
As a veteran of the Vietnam War, Oliver Stone imbued his Best Picture-winning filmPlatoonwith aspects of his real-life experience. With Charlie Sheen as a U.S. Army volunteer, this intense and thought-provoking narrative saw sergeants and leaders in conflict over the morality in the platoon and their viewpoints on the war itself. Stone made Platoon in response to the version of the Vietnam War depiction in John Wayne’s controversial movieThe Green Berets, which was widely viewed as propaganda made to stir anti-communist sentiments.
While Stone did not have a major role inPlatoon, he did make a brief cameo appearance as the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 22d Infantry, during the final battle. This battle wasbased on the real New Year’s Day Battle of 1968that Stone was actually a part of during his time in the war (viaDefense.gov.) This personal connection between Stone’s military service and battle sequences inPlatoonhelped add to the depth and accuracy of its depiction.
5Kevin Costner
Dances with Wolves (1990)
While Kevin Costner rose to prominence in Hollywood through movie roles such asThe Untouchables, in 1990 he entered a new phase of his career as a filmmaker with an extraordinary directorial debut,Dances with Wolves. An adaptation of a novel by Michael Blake,Dances with Wolvesstarred Costner as Lt. John J. Dunbar, a man who encounters a tribe of Lakota Native Americans while traveling the American frontier. As a rare Best Picture-winning Western,Dances with Wolves’12 Oscar nominations and seven wins were a record for the genre.
WhileDances with Wolveshas been criticized for inaccuracies in the way it portrays indigenous culture, it was also an example of the Western genre trying to honor native peoples who had been historically treated so poorly. Costner gave a strong leading performance and signaled himself as a new major voice in Hollywood filmmaking, although he never achieved the same level of accolades and success as he did with this first film.
4Clint Eastwood
Unforgiven (1992)
After a long career starring in Western movie classics like Sergio Leone’sDollars Trilogyor revisionist triumphs such asThe Outlaw Josey Wales, it was only appropriate that Clint Eastwood’s first Best Picture win wasUnforgiven.This astounding Western deconstructed themes of revenge and the morality of the Old Westin a way that bookended Eastwood’s career and summed up the complexities of every gunslinger he ever played. Eastwood himself was aware of the profound nature ofUnforgivenand asserted it would be his last traditional Western, as any future projects would only rehash old plot points.
Eastwood not only directedUnforgivenbut actually starred in the leading role as William Munny, an outlaw-turned-farmer who returns to his violent roots for one last job. With a horrific past as a drunken murderer and gunfighter, Munny carried the weight of those he killed, andUnforgivenreflected the nature of Wild West violence in a realistic environment. The characterization of Munny was a clever commentary on the Western genre as a whole, as he did not necessarily represent a heroic figure, but was just the one who survived.
3Mel Gibson
Braveheart (1995)
While Mel Gibson’s directorial debut came withThe Man Without a Facein 1993, it was the release ofBraveheartthat truly signaled his transition from Hollywood movie star to major filmmaker. With Gibson in the role of William Wallace,Bravehearttold the story of the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England. Through a blend of fact and fiction,Braveheartwas also informed by the epic poemThe Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallaceto tell a semi-fictionalized account of the Scottish warrior’s story.
Braveheartwas a major success that not only earned the Academy Award for Best Picture but has also had an undeniable impact on pop culture as a whole. Through his iconic speech where Gibson’s Wallace powerfully asserted, “They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”Braveheartearned its status as an all-time great historical war movie. As the most recent time that a Best Picture-winning director was also the movie’s lead star,Braveheartwas an incredible achievement.
2Peter Jackson
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Peter Jackson’sThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy was truly one of the most spectacular cinematic events in the history of fantasy filmmaking. With all three films shot simultaneously, Jackson’s ambitious plan to bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s series to life came to fruition in such a powerful way that the final installment,The Return of the King, earned not just the Academy Award for Best Picture, but eleven Oscar nominations that it won in every category.
While Jackson did not have a leading role in any ofThe Lord of the Ringsfilms, he did make brief cameo appearances in each entry. InThe Fellowship of the Ring, Jackson played Albert Dreary, the drunken man of Bree seen eating a carrot. InThe Two Towers, Jackson portrayed a Rohirrim warrior during the Battle of Helm’s Deep. Finally, inThe Return of the King,Jackson popped up as one of the Corsair of Umbar pirates seen onboard the Black Ships.
1Clint Eastwood (Again)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
More than two decades have passed since a Best Picture-winning director appeared in their Oscar-winning movie. Clint Eastwood repeated the feat he first pulled withUnforgivenby also appearing inMillion Dollar Baby. As an emotional rollercoaster of a movie,Million Dollar Babybegan as a female answer toRocky,where Hilary Swank’s Maggie Fitzgerald was being trained by the gruff elderly Frankie Dunn, played by Eastwood. However, a sudden tone shift after an accident causedMillion Dollar Babyto switch gears and turn into a heartbreaking drama around the nature of loss, disability, and what makes life worth living.
Million Dollar Babyreceived widespread acclaim for the emotional intensity of its story, which caught many viewers off guard due to its sudden thematic shift. Eastwood gave an incredible performance as Frankie Dunn, a man whose hard exterior was informed by tragedy and was revealed as a deeply thoughtful and complex man. While it remains to be seen who the next Best Picture-winning director to appear in their own movie will be, it’s a testament to Eastwood’s legacy that he’s the only filmmaker who managed this achievement twice.
