7 Actors Who Tried To Be Directors (And Totally Failed)

6. Johnny Depp

The title of Johnny Depp's single attempt at directing to date, The Brave, could easily be a statement about Depp himself, given the picture's grim subject matter: Depp plays a Native American man struggling to make a life for himself, his wife and their two children. In order to fix his situation, he agrees to be the star of a snuff film in exchange for $50,000, hoping that his sacrifice will buy his family a better life. The movie documents the week leading up to the film shoot. Sadly the movie suffers from glacial pacing which undercuts its rather shocking, visceral appeal. Depp, who co-wrote the movie, overstates any apparent philosophical appeal of his narrative, and the result is a bloated, 2-hour-plus meditation which doesn't really go anywhere, even despite some decent work from Marlon Brando in a brief supporting role. On the plus side, it evidently gave Depp his Jack Sparrow look, so there's that... In terms of follow-ups, Depp reportedly completed a documentary about Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards last year, though we're still waiting to see that one materialise...