10 Great Directors Who Acted In Other Peoples' Movies

6. Woody Allen - The Impostors

Tarantino's face is well-known, but when it comes to a director whose appearance is as famous as his output then Woody Allen tops the bill on this particular list. Basing many of his successes around his own neurotic comedy persona, an acting role outside his films is scarcer than a hen dentist, never mind hens' teeth. He'd worked with Stanley Tucci on Deconstructing Harry, and Allen must have liked the experience as he returned the favour when Tucci helmed retro screwball gem The Impostors in 1998. Underrated and utterly hilarious, it followed unemployed actors Arthur (played by the director) and Maurice (Oliver Platt), who got caught up in hi-jinks when they stowed away on a cruise ship. Allen played a gesticulating theatre director putting the pair through their paces during a fruitless audition. This woeful experience among others led Tucci and Platt into the rapid fire sea-bound scenario, where they encountered an embarrassment of acting riches, from Steve Buscemi to Billy Connolly.