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Actor and director Bradley Cooper on the set of "A Star Is Born."
Clay Enos/Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection
This month, Halle Berry, 55, makes her directorial debut with the film Bruised (coming to Netflix Nov. 24). Directing a movie is impressive enough, but the Oscar winner will be pulling double duty, also starring as Jackie Justice, a mixed martial arts fighter who reconnects with her young son after giving him up for adoption. Over the years, a number of celebrated performers have directed themselves to critical acclaim, with some even picking up Oscar wins and nominations in the process. Check out these 12 films to see how Berry stacks up — and drop some of your favorite self-directed performances in the comments below!
Citizen Kane (1941)
Starring and directed by: Orson Welles
The plot: What were you up to when you were 25 years old? Don’t feel bad, but Orson Welles was writing, producing, directing and starring in his debut feature — which also happens to be considered by many the greatest film ever made. Welles stars as Charles Foster Kane, a megalomaniacal newspaper magnate modeled after William Randolph Hearst, who sparks a mystery with his cryptic final deathbed utterance: “Rosebud.”
The best part: Welles fills almost every scene with innovative camera tricks, cinematographic flourishes, clever dissolves, long unbroken takes and in-camera effects. It’s flashy, sure, but it’s also a feast for cinephiles.
Watch it: Citizen Kane on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, HBO Max, YouTube
Hamlet (1948)
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Starring and directed by: Laurence Olivier
The plot: “It may come as something of a rude shock to the theatre’s traditionalists to discover that the tragedies of Shakespeare can be eloquently presented on the screen,” wrote Bosley Crowther in his New York Times review. “But now the matter is settled; the filmed Hamlet of Laurence Olivier gives absolute proof that these classics are magnificently suited to the screen.” While this version is widely considered the best Shakespeare film of all time, it was seen as quite radical back then, with Olivier cutting nearly half of the Bard’s text and completely removing Fortinbras, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Nevertheless, it’s the only Shakespeare adaptation in Oscar history to win best picture or best actor.
The best part: His “to be or not to be” soliloquy is particularly dramatic — Olivier stages it with Hamlet standing on the edge of a cliff, clutching a dagger.
Watch it: Hamlet on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, HBO Max
Reds (1981)
Starring and directed by: Warren Beatty, 84
The plot: With this sweeping historical drama, Beatty became the third person — after Woody Allen, 85, and Orson Welles — to be nominated for best actor, director and film in the same year, winning for his directorial duties. He stars as the socialist journalist John Reed who travels to Russia to chronicle the Bolshevik Revolution and returns home a revolutionary. Diane Keaton, 75, plays feminist activist Louise Bryant, alongside Jack Nicholson, 84, as Eugene O’Neill. The film went on to be ranked number 9 on AFI’s list of the greatest epics.
The best part: In a neat touch of realism, Beatty peppers the narrative with interviews from 32 “witnesses” who had known Reed and Bryant decades before, including the writer Henry Miller. The New York Times review noted that they were all “very old.”
Watch it: Reds on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, HBO Max, Hulu
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Yentl (1983)
Starring and directed by: Barbra Streisand, 79
The plot: Babs became the first woman in history to direct, write, produce and star in her own major Hollywood film, and she did so with this feminist musical set in a Jewish shtetl in 1904 Poland. When her rabbi father dies, Yentl Mendel decides to chop off her hair and dress as a boy so she can study the Talmud, but things get tricky when she develops feelings for her fellow yeshiva classmate Avigdor (Mandy Patinkin, 68). Streisand became the first woman to win a Golden Globe for best director — she remained the only one until Chloé Zhao won earlier this year — and later directed herself again in 1991’s The Prince of Tides and 1996’s The Mirror Has Two Faces.
The best part: “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” earned an Oscar nomination for best song and reached number 26 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
Watch it: Yentl on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, Pluto TV, Tubi, YouTube
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