For some stars, bigger challenge beckons behind the camera

GARCIA, Eddie. Directing is a 24/7 job.

Most Actors love the perks and cushy comforts of stardom, so they don’t want to trade them in for the arduous ordeals that go with TV-film direction.

As one local luminary dryly puts it, “Stardom is great and acting is the best job in the world—so, why would I want to exchange it for directing? It’s like grabbing hold of a huge rock and hitting myself on the head with it, over and over again!”

—Well, he’s exaggerating, of course, but you get the picture. An actor thinks only of his assigned role, but the director has to worry about all of the performances in the movie he’s making, in addition to its many other elements, from costumes to editing!

So, why do some actors want to direct? Precisely because it’s so challenging—like climbing the highest mountain because it’s the highest. And, since the director is the captain of the movie’s ship, it’s his journey and destination that hold sway.

Satisfaction

Talk about artistic satisfaction, there’s enough there to last a lifetime! Trouble is, since the job is really hard, some actor-directors end up shirking it even if they love it, because it’s so time-consuming, and demands so much obsessive attention that it significantly reduces the income they earn from their multihyphenated careers.

One such actor-director is Eddie Garcia, who by the way has won Hall of Fame honors in both acting and directing. He confesses that he doesn’t direct as much as he wants to because, when he’s helming a movie, he’s into it 24/7, and has to pass up easier acting offers that could make him a millionaire many times over!

Despite these drawbacks, some actor-directors have distinguished themselves with their body of work. As a star, Warren Beatty had one of the handsomest faces in the movies, but he was deemed a lightweight talent.

BEATTY, Beatty. Directing is a 24/7 job

Yes, he turned in creditable portrayals in “Splendor in the Grass,” “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone,” “All Fall Down,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” and “Shampoo.” But, it wasn’t until he hit Hollywood over the head and in the solar plexus with his direction of “Reds” in 1981 that he got some real respect as a film artist.

His film about journalist John Reed’s involvement with Communism and the Russian revolution was such an unexpected artistic success that it won the Best Director Oscar for Beatty. Since then, he’s megged “Dick Tracy” and “Bullworth.”

Another star who’s proven that he’s much more than just a pretty face is Robert Redford, who became a popular screen luminary with his roles in films like “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Way We Were,” “The Sting,” “All the President’s Men” and “A Bridge Too Far.”

Options

In midcareer, however, Redford took time out to reassess his options, and decided that he had a lot to share and say behind the cameras, as well. So, he went for the jugular and came up with provocative productions like “Ordinary People,” “The Milagro Beanfield War,” “A River Runs Through It,” “Quiz Show,” “The Horse Whisperer” and “The Legend of Bagger Vance.”

On the local film scene, other actors who’ve directed films and/or TV shows include Laurice Guillen, Gina Alajar, Ricky Davao, Edgar Mortiz, and even Christopher de Leon and —Nora Aunor!

It may be an “impractical” thing to do for an exceedingly well-paid and high-flying star—but, that dauntingly steep mountain continues to beckon, wistfully waiting to be scaled!