History Main / DirectedByCastMember

* Jensen Ackles directed the episode 'Weekend at Bobby's' in season six of ''[[{{Supernatural}}]]''

* Jensen Ackles directed the episode 'Weekend at Bobby's' in season six of ''[[Supernatural]]''

** Averted big-time by ''StarTrekEnterprise'' - apart from Scott Bakula, who directed a few episodes of ''Quantum Leap'', none of the cast has directed anything, ''ever''.
*** To be fair, Enterprise was cancelled after three seasons so there was less time for the trope to come into play.

* ''{{Friends}}'' - David Schwimmer

*** RobertCaryle also directed an episode of SpinOff StargateUniverse.

** Ben Browder also co-wrote on episode.

* Inverted with Clark Johnson, who directed four episodes in the first season of ''TheWire'', then appeared as Gus Haynes in the fifth season.

* ''StargateSG1'' - Christopher Judge as a writer and Michael Shanks as a director (interestingly, Shanks' episode involved robot clones and he was able to get out of half of the screen time by just killing the clone)
** Amanda Tapping also directed an episode (season 7's "Resurrection", which, incidentally, was written by Michael Shanks).

* Amanda Tapping and Michael Shanks each directed an episode of StargateSG1. Shanks, Christopher Judge and Ben Browder all wrote for the series as well.

* SlyvesterStallone is also well known for this, starting with ''Paradise Alley'' (1978). The only film he has directed and NOT starred in is ''Staying Alive'', the sequel to ''SaturdayNightFever''.

* David Duchovny directed a few of the later episodes of ''TheXFiles'', namely "The Unnatural", "William", and "Hollywood A.D." (he also wrote this one).

* Here's a strange one: Dennis Dugan was brought in for 4 episodes near the end of ''Moonlighting'', where he played the infamous "guy Maddie met on a train and immediately married for no apparent reason in order to provide a love triangle". This failed utterly and his character was written out and never seen again. However, Dugan himself stuck around to direct 5 unrelated episodes.

* The latest films starring SylvesterStallone are this.

** ''Star Trek'' also passed along cast member directors between series. Levar Burton, Roxann Dawson and Robert [=McNeil=] all directed episodes of ''{{Enterprise}}''. Jonathan Frakes directed an episode of ''{{DS9}}''.

* Here's a strange one: Dennis Dugan was brought in for 4 episodes near the end of Moonlighting, where he played the infamous "guy Maddie met on a train and immediately married for no apparent reason in order to provide a love triangle". This failed utterly and his character was written out and never seen again. However, Dugan himself stuck around to direct 5 unrelated episodes.

->'''LeonardNimoy:''' Melllvar, you have to respect your actors. When I directed [[StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome Star Trek IV]], I got a magnificent performance out of Bill because I respected him so much.\\
'''WilliamShatner:''' And when I directed [[StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier Star Trek V]], [[TedBaxter I got a magnificent performance out of me]] [[SmallNameBigEgo because I respected me so much]].

* KurtRussell ghost directed some scenes of ''Tombstone'' after the original director was fired. After a new director was found, Russell still helped with some of the directing.

* Edward James Olmos has directed three episodes of the new ''BattlestarGalactica''. He also directed the upcoming BSG TV movie, The Plan.

* Episode 16 in season 5 of ''CriminalMinds'' was directed by Matthew Gary Gubler (who plays Dr. Spencer Reid). He has done very minor directing jobs before, but nothing on this scale. It was a very, ''very'' good episode. This could be because someone was guiding his hand (making sure he didn't screw up) or because he really is quite gifted, but this was one of the more TearJerker episodes and, especially considering it involved heavy acting with teenagers and young children, was incredibly well executed. When you're able to get multiple really good performances out of ''kids'', you're doing something right.

* '' {{The Office}}'': John Krasinski directed a sixth season episode called Sabre. Steve Carell has also directed two episodes, and Rainn Wilson helmed one.

* Episode 16 in season 5 of ''CriminalMinds'' was directed by Matthew Gary Gubler (who plays Dr. Spencer Reid). He has done very minor directing jobs before, but nothing on this scale. It was a very, ''very'' good episode. This could be because someone was guiding his hand (making sure he didn't screw up) or because he really is quite gifted, but this was one of the more TearJerker episodes and, especially considering it involved heavy acting with teenagers and young children, was incredibly well executed. When you're able to get multiple really good performances out of ''kids'', you're doing something right.