Unraveling the Asymmetry between Actors Turned Writers and Writers Turned Actors
If you type the search term “actors who turned writers,” how many results do you think will you get?
A lot!
For instance, a quick search for “award-winning actor and writer” will show the page of Guinness Book of World Records which names Emma Thompson as the first person ever to win Oscars Awards for both acting and writing. The former for her role in ‘Howards End (1991)’ and the latter for ‘Sense and Sensibility (1995)’.
And, on the first page of the search results alone, you will find many illustrious names in the American film industry who not only have mesmerized people around the world with their acting chops but also earned accolades for their writing skills. Some of the names are:
‘Rocky’ and ‘Rambo’ actor Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay of ‘Rocky’
‘Argo’ actor Ben Affleck and ‘The Martian’ actor Matt Damon wrote ‘Good Will Hunting’ together and won an Oscar for Best Writing. Both also co-wrote ‘The Last Duel’. The former is also the writer of ‘Gone Baby Gone,’ ‘Live by Night,’ ‘The Town,’ while the latter has ‘Gerry’ and ‘Promised Land’ to his credits.
George Clooney, the elegant-looking actor who is known for his suave looks, received Oscar nominations for the best original screenplay for ‘Good Night, and Good Luck.’ He also wrote ‘The Monuments Men,’ ‘The Ides of March,’ and ‘Suburbicon.’
These are just five names among dozens of others. And that’s not all. Apart from proving their mettle as screenplay writers, some actors have also become successful novelists and non fiction writers. Some names are:
Renowned actor Tom Hanks for writing ‘Uncommon Type: Some Stories’ and ‘The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece’.
‘Mystic River’ actor Sean Penn authored the satirical fiction novel titled ‘Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff’
‘Dead Poets Society’ actor Ethan Hawke wrote ‘The Hottest State’ and ‘Ash Wednesday’
‘Carrie Fisher,’ who is known for her character of Princess Leia in the ‘Star Wars’ franchise, penned ‘Postcards from the Edge,’ ‘Wishful Drinking’, and ‘Surrender the Pink’.
‘Baywatch’ actor Pamela Anderson authored autobiographical novels and one fiction novel titled ‘Star’
Closer home we have Nandita Das, Twinkle Khanna, Lisa Ray, Samir Soni, and many other renowned actors who have published their own literary works.
But how many writers have turned actors? If you search on Google, you will get very few results. Barring a few cameos here and there, not many celebrated writers invested their time learning the art and craft of enacting the characters they’ve created.
Of course, you will get some outliers such as Indian-born British-American novelist Salman Rushdie who acted in several movies such as ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary,’ ‘Then She Found Me’ (he portrayed the role of an obstetrician-gynaecologist), he also appeared as himself in episode 3 of season 9 of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’
You will also find the name of celebrated self-help author Deepak Chopra in the acting credits of 2008 movie ‘Love Guru.’
Author of ‘The Shining’ Stephen King has 23 acting credits on IMDB of which almost all are cameos. But his performance as Jordy Verrill, a comedic and dim-witted hillybilly, in 1982 anthology movie ‘Creepshow’ was an earnest performance.
American writer and humorist Kurt Vonnegut, the author of ‘Mother Night’ and 13 other novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction works in a career spanning over five decades, played the role a guardian angel named Robert in 2007 movie ‘Never Down.’
Noted American playwright, essayist and screenwriter Arthur Asher Miller debuted at 85 in the 2001 movie ‘Eden’.
Legendary American novelist, screenwriter, and playwright Truman Capote played the role of Lionel Twain, the main antagonist in the 1976 movie ‘Murder by Death.’
Apart from this, there are several book authors who made cameo appearances in the adaptations of their own books such as Stephenie Meyer (in Twilight and Breaking Dawn: Part One), William Peter Blatty (The Exorcist), Michael Morpugo in (War Horse), John le Carré — (Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy), Kathryn Stockett (The Help), Lee Child (Jack Reacher).
In India, we have authors such as Chetan Bhagat who played himself in Netflix’s webseries ‘Decoupled.’
But if we compare the number of actors who write professionally and are recognized for their literary works to the number of writers who have made their presence felt in movies, TV shows, and web series, the former surpasses the latter by a significant margin.
It makes me wonder, why is that? If you search “why should writers learn acting” you will get dozens of articles that highlight the benefits writers can realize if they take up acting classes. Some of them are:
1. Write better dialogues
2. Learn what motivates actors and their characters
3. Step out of comfort zone
4. Opportunities for self-expression beyond the written word
5. Empathy and emotional depth in storytelling
6. Strong communication abilities across mediums
7. Better understanding of character development
8. Holistic understanding of storytelling processes
As a content writer, who is learning the art of acting, I’ll be honest about one thing: Acting is tough. It pushes you beyond your comfort zone and exposes you to the raw side of human nature, from co-actors’ tantrums to directors’ harsh critiques and rebukes when things don’t go smooth.
But still, taking up acting classes can teach a lot of things to writers. If actors can earn critical acclaim and commercial success for their literary works, writers can certainly explore the stage and screen.
