History Main / DirectedByCastMember

* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'': Paul Lieberstein directed seven episodes, B.J. Novak did five, Creator/SteveCarell, Creator/JohnKrasinski and Creator/RainnWilson all called the shots on three, and Mindy Kaling and Ed Helms... well, [[IncrediblyLamePun helmed]] two each. (Lieberstein, Novak, Carell, and Kaling also [[WrittenByCastMember wrote several episodes]], and all but Carell directed one of their own scripts at least once.)

* Creator/KevinCostner Both directed and starred in ''Film/DancesWithWolves'', ''Film/ThePostman}}'' and ''Film/OpenRange''.

* Creator/KevinCostner Both directed and starred in ''Film/DancesWithWolves'', ''Film/ThePostmam}}'' and ''Film/OpenRange''.

* Unsurprisingly, since then both Creator/MelissaJoanHart and Joey Lawrence have directed episodes of ''Series/MelissaAndJoey'' (six andfive respectively).

* Creator/RobertConrad directed episodes of his series Black Sheep Squadron, The Duke, A Man Called Sloane, High Mountain Rangers and Jesse Hawkes. The latter two were also series he produced.

* Creator/PeterGraves directed the ''Series/MissionImpossible'' episode "Kidnap." as he'd been on the show for a while, he felt the pitfalls that beset the show's other directors wouldn't trip him up (he was wrong; this was second[[note]]he made his directorial debut with an episode of ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}''[[/note]] and last time behind the camera

* Creator/PeterGraves diected the ''Series/MissionImpossible'' episode "Kidnap."

* ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'': several episodes directed by Creator/BillBixby, plus two directed by Jack Colvin ("Goodbye Eddie Cain" and "East Winds").

* Music/TaylorSwift has started directing her own music videos since ''Lover''. She's credited as the sole director for "The Man" and the ten minutes short film of Music/AllTooWell.

* Most of the films Creator/KennethBranagh directed usually have him acting in them, usually as the main character. His Shakespeare films are notable examples.

* Here's a strange one: Creator/DennisDugan was brought in for four episodes near the end of ''Series/{{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 five unrelated episodes (and now Dugan is probably better known as a director than as an actor).

* On Series/GLOW2017, Creator/AlisonBrie directed the third-season episode "Hollywood Homecoming".

* Creator/ClintEastwood started directing himself in the 1970s. In fact, the Director's Guild of America has a rule named after Eastwood. It prevents a ''current'' cast or crew member from replacing the director of the film (it became the ''Eastwood rule'' after Clint gave the boot to Philip Kaufman when shooting ''Film/TheOutlawJoseyWales''). This is why, in a TroubledProduction like ''Film/RamboFirstBloodPartII'' or ''Film/{{Tombstone}}'' where the director quits or gets fired, the ''de facto'' cast member director has to find a ''de jure'' director through whom to work. Eastwood was recognized as the oldest man to direct his own film and have it become a #1 box office hit with ''Film/GranTorino''.

* ''Series/BatesMotel'' put several of its main cast in the director's chair. It started when star Creator/VeraFarmiga suggested that Creator/NestorCarbonell ought to direct an episode; he made his debut in the director's chair in season three and went on to direct an episode in both seasons four and five as well. Creator/FreddieHighmore and Creator/MaxThieriot followed suit, both taking a turn behind the camera in season five. Ironically, the only main cast member who already ''had'' directing experience, Farmiga herself[[note]]who had directed the well-received 2011 indie drama ''Higher Ground''[[/note]], turned down the opportunity when she was asked if she wanted to direct as well.

** Other episodes Gubler directed are: "The Lesson" (8x10), "Alchemy" (8x20),"Gatekeeper" (9x7), "Blood Relations" (9x20), "Mr. Scratch" (10x21),"A Beautiful Disaster" (11x18),"Elliott's Pond" (12x6), "The Capilanos" (13x17), and
"The Tall Man" (14x5).

* Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reid) directed three episodes of ''Series/CriminalMinds'':

'''Creator/WilliamShatner:''' And when I directed ''Film/{{Star Trek V|The Final Frontier}}'', I got a magnificent performance out of me because I respected ''me'' so much.

** Creator/MikeMcFarland voice directed the first three ''Rebuild'' movies while also taking over as Makoto Hyoga.

* Creator/JamieLeeCurtis directed an episode of ''Series/ScreamQueens''.

** And, of course, these directors will often show up in shows that follow theirs. Frakes has directed episodes of ''DS9'', ''VOY'', ''ENT'', ''[[Series/StarTrekDiscovery DISCO]]'' and ''[[Series/StarTrekPicard PIC]]'', and is already slated to direct episodes of the ''DISCO'' SpinOff / ''TOS'' {{prequel}} ''Strange New Worlds''. [=LeVar=] Burton did an average of 9 episodes per series for ''DS9'', ''VOY'' and ''ENT''. Andrew Robinson, the FakeGuestStar of ''DS9'', directed two ''VOY'' episodes. And after directing episodes of ''VOY'', both Roxann Dawson and Robert Duncan [=McNeill=] came back for ''ENT''.