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Though it happens almost every week on some TV show, for actors to go behind the camera and helm a movie is a little rarer; granted, there are some truly prolific actors-turned-directors on the big screen, but it's still not too common for actors to get behind the helm of a big-budget movie. Strangely enough, though, two such movies are opening this weekend: Whip It, a movie about girls who play roller derby directed by Drew Barrymore (who co-stars in the picture, starring Ellen Page); and The Invention of Lying, a high-concept comedy about an alternate universe where no one has the ability to lie, co-written and co-directed by one of the funniest people on the planet, Ricky Gervais (who plays the film's lead).

There are certainly some actors whose turns behind the camera haven't gone so well (all the studio interference aside, a recent example is Billy Bob Thornton, with All The Pretty Horses), but those who have succeeded have been working for many years, and some have received a few golden trophies for their work. That said, there's always a bit of skepticism when actors get behind the camera. Take the two upcoming films, for instance. Though Gervais's directing talents aren't really in question (he co-wrote and co-directed every episode of "The Office" and "Extras"), Barrymore doesn't have any major credits to her name. Moreover, her acting career isn't so much stagnant as unimpressive (the exception being her role in HBO's "Grey Gardens"). It'll be interesting to see how well-received the two films are.

The directors on this list may not be the best actors (one of them has only a few major film credits to his name as an actor, and is well-known more for his various television shows), but they have had long, successful, and mostly solid careers in the director's chair. Some of them have been doing this for decades; granted, I'm not sure that any of these people have a truly definable style that stands out from other directors' work, but there's no question that these directors get the job done, almost to the point of being journeymen helmers.

Ron Howard

He's been Opie, Richie Cunningham, and the narrator on the greatest TV comedy ever made, "Arrested Development." Of course, he's also an Academy Award-winning director, for his work on 2001's A Beautiful Mind, and has made two wildly popular cinematic adaptations of the nutty life of symbologist Robert Langdon, The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. Even before the past decade, Ron Howard had been turning in solid to great work with movies such as Apollo 13, Parenthood, and Backdraft for years. Howard has mostly shunned his roots in TV, with the exception of his work on "Arrested Development", which he executive-produced; and a guest spot on "The Simpsons". Why blame him? With a career of over 25 years in the director's chair, Howard is now considered a consistent director, able to make popular entertainment or awards bait, like last year's Frost/Nixon.

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