Acting can be a lot of hard work. You have to travel extensively, sometimes have long set days and need to access feelings for big character moments, which can be emotionally exhausting. It is no doubt a full time job, but some actors decide to go the extra mile, wanting to extend their talents into different areas of the creative process. Some of them become directors or singers, and some become producers. As producers, they get more say in how their projects get made and work towards helping other important projects get made outside of their own. It’s a popular venture amongst many movie stars, and it turns out Brad Pitt, Viola Davis, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Will Smith are doing it best.
In a recent piece of data calculated by Venture Smarter, these actors are some of the most successful actor producers in the game. Not only do Pitt, Davis, DiCaprio and Smith all have Oscars for their acting work, but they are also leading the game with their own respective production companies. Much of this is based on the success of their produced projects critically and financially, and how many projects they are able to produce per year. Other Oscar-winning actor producers on the list include Jackie Chan, George Clooney and Ben Affleck.
Pitt takes the overall lead with his production company Plan B Entertainment, which is responsible for producing 263 films. These films have had great success, with Best Picture winners The Departed, 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight being in the repertoire. He was so involved with 12 Years a Slave that he personally took home an Oscar when the drama won Best Picture. One of the next major films he is undertaking as a producer is Wolfs, which he is set to star in with pal George Clooney. This is all in addition to receiving a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
DiCaprio comes in second to the Babylon star, with 157 films under his production company Appian Way. The company is responsible for some big ticket films like The Ides of March, The Aviator and The Wolf of Wall Street, for which the Don’t Look Up star was nominated for both acting in and producing the film. The next big film under the Appian Way umbrella is Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, which premiered at Cannes to incredibly high praise. All this producing work is in addition to the movie star winning his Best Actor Oscar for The Revenant in 2016.
Following DiCaprio on the list is Will Smith who has 86 producing credits with his production company Overbrook Entertainment. The company is responsible for many of the Emancipation star’s films like Hancock, Pursuit of Happiness, and I Am Legend. Currently, it is the production company behind the hit series Cobra Kai, which is available with a Netflix subscription. Smith’s producing work has garnered him a Best Picture Oscar nomination for King Richard. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air alum also won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in that film.
The most successful Oscar winning female acting/producer on the list is Viola Davis, who has 41 producing credits to her name under her production company JuVee Productions. The company is responsible for such films as The Woman King, Lila & Eve, and The First Lady series on Showtime. There are several projects in development with JuVee, including I Almost Forgot About You, which Davis would star in. The Air actress in addition has been nominated for several Academy Awards for her acting work, and won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2017 for Fences.
Clearly these are some multitalented movie stars with a lot of big projects under their belts. The awards race gets heated when one of these four get in the mix, and I’m looking forward to what other potential awards contenders these actors can make happen. There also are several upcoming films starring some of these actors coming out this year, so make sure to consult our 2023 movie release schedule to see what this year has in store.