10 Movie Directors Who Cast Actors As Cinematic Versions Of Themselves
7. Woody Allen Is Woody Allen, Sometimes Even With Regrets
It's simply not a Woody Allen movie without the director in it in some way. Even when he's too old to play the character written himself, he trusts his casting director implicitly to find an avatar, be it Jason Biggs or Larry David.
But after he made his "early, funny ones", Allen became the spotlight of his own work, incorporating his own stand-up routines into character dialogue. But it never felt intrusive - somehow, the director made it feel natural to throw in one-liners.
Perhaps the most poignant of his early days is Annie Hall, where the neurotic filmmaker unflinchingly examines his relationship with women. Or, if Ronan and Mia Farrow are to be believed, Manhattan serves as a kind of comeuppance for his past transgressions.
Allen has even used films to settle personal scores, casting Alan Alda as an unbearable, pontificating producer (based on MASH creator Larry Gelbart, who Allen and Alda both despise).
What keeps it all from being just tired schtick is Allen's willingness to not make himself the hero of his own story - often the loser or at least the antagonist.