Here Are 13 Celebrities Who Produced Major Movies That They Didn't Appear In
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Last month, Emma Stone achieved a significant feat with her Oscar win for Poor Things. She's now a two-time Academy Award winner, first taking home Best Actress in 2017 for La La Land. But this is far from the only major success she's had lately.
Behind the scenes, Emma has built an impressive career as a film producer. She also garnered a Best Picture nomination this year as a producer for Poor Things. Emma even runs a production company, Fruit Tree, alongside her husband, Dave McCary. And though the company didn't produce Poor Things, they've hit the ground running with some notable film releases since launching in 2020.
Their recent films include When You Finish Saving the World and Problemista, while they've got I Saw the TV Glow and A Real Pain coming later this year.
Emma is far from the first celeb to make a name for themselves producing movies. So here are 13 stars, including a former president, who've also proved themselves to be savvy film producers:
1.Margot Robbie: Saltburn (2023)
The star is an Oscar-nominated producer through her production company, LuckyChap, which she founded alongside Josey McNamara and her husband, Tom Ackerley. In addition to working on some of Margot's films, like I, Tonya, Terminal, and Barbie, the company was also behind the TV series Dollface and the miniseries Maid. They also produced director Emerald Fennell's films Promising Young Woman and Saltburn.
As for what Margot first thought of Saltburn's many infamous scenes, she told Variety in January, "It didn't feel that shocking in the script, because Emerald immerses you into a world so quickly. She's so masterful at tone and plot; she gets you into it so quickly — you're just immediately like, 'I'm in this world.' So by the time you get to something like the bathtub scene, she's primed you for it. She's got you. You're, like, picking at a scab; you're like, 'I can't help myself.' Or like popping a pimple: 'I know I shouldn't squeeze, but I'm gonna.'"
2.Will Ferrell: May December (2023)
Will and Adam McKay produced numerous films and TV shows together through their production company, Gary Sanchez Productions. This includes hits like Step Brothers, Vice, The Menu, and Succession. Following the end of Gary Sanchez Productions, Will shifted his producing efforts in recent years to women-centered content alongside producer Jessica Elbaum through sister label Gloria Sanchez Productions. The company is behind films like Booksmart, Hustlers, and May December.
Will told Vanity Fair in January, "It just kind of happened this way" that he's begun producing women-centric content. "If the planet is a school bus, men have been driving it since the beginning of civilization," he continued. "It's women's turn to take over the wheel."
3.Barack Obama: Leave the World Behind (2023)
Through their production company Higher Ground, Barack and Michelle Obama worked on the film about a dystopian future amid a blackout. The movie is based on Rumaan Alam's 2020 novel of the same name. "He had a lot [of] notes about the characters and the empathy we would have for them," the film's director and writer, Sam Esmail, told Vanity Fair last year of the former president's involvement. "I have to say he is a big movie lover, and he wasn't just giving notes about things that were from his background. He was giving notes as a fan of the book, and he wanted to see a really good film."
Last year, Higher Ground also produced Rustin, the Bayard Rustin biopic starring Colman Domingo.
4.Maria Bello: The Woman King (2022)
"The Woman King was definitely born of my love of the continent in general," Maria told the Hollywood Reporter in 2022, referring to Africa. "It's based on women's history, a story I found many years ago about this army of women in the 17th century. I was watching Braveheart and I was like, 'Why isn't there a woman's movie like this?'"
Maria pitched the film to Viola Davis, who came aboard as a producer alongside her husband and producing partner, Julius Tennon, through their company, JuVee Productions. Viola also starred in the film.
5.Reese Witherspoon: Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)
Where the Crawdads Sing is based on Delia Owens's 2018 novel of the same name. Reese's involvement with the book turned movie came after she selected the novel that year as a book for her book club. Then Reese's production company, Hello Sunshine, produced the adaptation.
"Shortly after, one of my very dearest friends and closest collaborators called me and said, 'So we make it into a movie? And I was like, 'Yessss! That would be amazing!" Reese told Entertainment Tonight in 2022. "From there, we just started going, and it's just been a dream come true."
6.Denzel Washington: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)
"I put my two cents in where I could, but in all seriousness, I really tried to stay out of the way," Denzel told the Guardian in 2020 about producing the film based on August Wilson's play of the same name.
According to Variety, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is one of the late playwright's 10 plays, known as the Pittsburgh Cycle or the Century Cycle, that Denzel is working to adapt to the screen. Another was Fences, which was adapted in 2016. Denzel starred in, directed, and produced that adaptation.
7.Bradley Cooper: Joker (2019)
"We kept this one pretty close to us," Jeff Groth, the film editor on Joker, told IndieWire in 2020. "We screened it more personally for people and filmmakers. Bradley Cooper definitely came in a couple of times. He was a producer on the movie, but he definitely watched the movie many times and sat with us. We could call him if we got stuck with something and be like, 'Hey, can you come over and take a look at things?'"
8.Eva Longoria: John Wick (2014)
In 2019, Eva told GQ of producing the film, "I saved the movie...I really did. It was fun. Keanu was amazing, and it was an amazing movie."
Chad Stahelski and David Leitch directed the film. Chad told the Hollywood Reporter last year of Eva's involvement, "The first John Wick was independent, and someone went to her with it as an investment opportunity. When Dave Leitch and I were filming, we didn't even know about it. We didn't meet her until well after the movie came out. We eventually met her at Chateau Marmont for lunch one day, and she's like, 'Hi, I'm Eva. Isn't this the weirdest thing?' We actually made her a bunch of money, which is awesome, so she felt like she should take us to lunch."
9.Pharrell Williams: Hidden Figures (2016)
"Oftentimes, I would have an opinion about things, beyond just the music — they would listen," Pharrell told the New York Times in 2017 of producing Hidden Figures. "I'm appreciative for that wiggle room and to be part of the conversation."
10.Jada Pinkett Smith: The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
"It was amazing. Because my bonus son's mother called me and said, 'Jada, you have to read this book,' and I fell in love with it. I was tracking the rights to this book for a very, very long time and they became available, so Overbrook [Entertainment] grabbed it and I said, 'You got to get these rights!'" Jada told The Early Show in 2008.
Overbrook Entertainment is Will Smith and producer James Lassiter's production company.
11.Tom Hanks (and Rita Wilson): Mamma Mia (2008)
Tom and Rita produced Mamma Mia and the sequel films through Tom's production company, Playtone, which he cofounded with Gary Goetzman. According to Vulture, Tom said on The Graham Norton Show in 2018, "I was a producer of Mamma Mia and I tried out for a role. I wanted to hire myself, but my singing voice would have scared the children."
12.Rita Wilson (and Tom Hanks): My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
Rita and Tom's production work through Playtone also includes the My Big Fat Greek Wedding films. Nia Vardalos, who starred in and wrote all three films in the series, was running a one-woman play in the late '90s. Rita, a fellow Greek actor, attended and subsequently convinced Tom and Playtone to turn the play into the first film, which remains the highest-grossing rom-com to date.
"The title made me laugh," Rita told USA Today in 2023 of Nia's stage show. "It was so great, and I thought, This could actually be a fantastic movie." Notably, Rita appeared in the first sequel and cowrote and performed an original song for the second sequel.
13.Finally, Whitney Houston: The Princess Diaries (2001)
According to People magazine, the late singer produced both the Princess Diaries and Cheetah Girls films, as well as Brandy's Cinderella and the 2012 Sparkle remake. Whitney starred in the latter two films.
Who did we miss? Let us know in the comments which celeb you were surprised to learn produced a significant film. Your comment may even be featured in a future BuzzFeed article.
