10 Actors You Never Knew Directed A Movie

6. Jack Nicholson - The Two Jakes (1990)

Arnold Schwarzenegger, auteur
Paramount Pictures

You'd think a man synonymous with so many brilliant movies would have a few more directing credits under his belt, but the impeccable Jack Nicholson only has three directing credits to his name. The last of those movies was 1990s movie The Two Jakes, a follow up to the all time classic Chinatown.

After directing Drive, He Said in 1971, and Goin' South in 1978, it was another 12 years before Jack Nicholson directed again for The Two Jakes. Despite not being of the same pristine quality that Chinatown is made of, this unexpected sequel still holds its own in the world of crime drama movies.

The movie itself languished in development hell for a while, bouncing around studios with script rewrites as well as cast and crew changes. The final product, though decent, was a financial failure against its budget and compared to its predecessor. As a result, it likely played a part of Nicholson not directing again. Either that or the staggering success he continued to find in the 1990s for his acting.

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Avid writer of nonsense. Can often be seen in his natural habitat watching far too many films and not enough TV. Occasionally plays on the Xbox and Megadrive whilst chastising himself for not writing more.