Canadian Male Directors

Canadian film director, producer, and screenwriter James Cameron is best known for making science fiction and epic films. He is the co-founder of the production companies Lightstorm Entertainment and Digital Domain. Time magazine named him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012. He is also an environmentalist.

Canadian actor, William Shatner, is best known for his roles in the television series Boston Legal, a legal drama for which he won two Emmy Awards and Star Trek, a science fiction adventure. He has also worked in many other sitcoms and films and has authored a number of science fiction novels. He is a singer and a spoken-word artist too.

David Cronenberg is a Canadian actor, film director, and screenwriter. He is considered a pioneer in what is known as the body horror genre. His films have earned numerous awards, and he has both earned critical acclaim and sparked controversy due to the nature of his work. He often collaborates with fellow actor Viggo Mortensen. 

Ivan Reitman is a screenwriter and film and TV producer and director. He is a co-owner of The Montecito Picture Company. He attended McMaster University, where he studied music. After being fired from his first job at a TV channel, he went on to produce stage productions. Later on, he began producing films as well. 

Avan Jogia is a Canadian actor and singer. He gained recognition with his performance in the American biographical TV film A Girl Like Me. Also an activist, Jogia co-founded Straight But Not Narrow, a non-profit organization which aims at changing the viewpoints of straight people about the LGBTQ community. Not surprisingly, he is loved and respected within the LGBT community.

Known for directing critically acclaimed movies, such as Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve was adjudged Filmmaker of the Decade in 2019 by the Hollywood Critics Association. One of the most popular and respected filmmakers of the current generation, Denis Villeneuve's films have had a major impact all over the world.

Legendary horror filmmaker George A. Romero is best known for his Night of the Living Dead series and for popularizing the zombie film genre. He also gained fame for his collaborations with horror novelist Stephen King, the most notable of them being the film version of King’s novel The Dark Half.

Born in South Africa, Neill Blomkamp later moved to Canada. He began his career as a 3-D and special effects artist and later turned to direction. He is known for his documentary-style filmmaking that uses the cinéma vérité technique. Two of his best-known sci-fi films are District 9 and Elysium.

A high-school dropout, Dave Foley started his career with stand-up comedy. After meeting Kevin McDonald, he formed the iconic sketch-comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall with him and others. He later appeared in movies such as The Wrong Guy and voiced for animated characters, such as Flik from A Bug's Life.

Canadian filmmaker and former advertising executive David Furnish is an alumnus of the University of Western Ontario in London. He is openly gay and is married to English musician Sir Elton John. Along with his husband, he is co-chief of Rocket Pictures, a film production company. He also serves on the board of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan, the son of actor-singer Manuel Tadros, first gained fame with his directorial debut, I Killed My Mother, at 19. He later won the Jury Prize at Cannes with his film Mommy. He has also dubbed for Ron Weasley in the French versions of Harry Potter films.

Paulo Costanzo is a Canadian actor best known for his role in the TV Series Animorphs. The son of a singer-songwriter and an artist, he was drawn to creative professions from a young age and chose to become an actor. He began his career in the early 2000s and became a sensation owing to his good looks and impeccable talent.

Peter DeLuise is an actor, screenwriter, and producer. He made his debut as an actor in the late 1970s and gained fame with his role in the Fox TV series 21 Jump Street. He eventually branched out into direction and production as well. As a director and writer, he is known for his science fiction TV shows. 

Enrico Colantoni is a Canadian actor and director best known for his role in the sitcom Just Shoot Me! He received his training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Yale School of Drama. He began his career as an actor in the 1980s and appeared in a string of successful TV series. He is also a director. 

Evan Goldberg is a Canadian screenwriter, comedian, and film and TV producer, and director.  He attended Point Grey Secondary School, where he befriended future actor Seth Rogen. The two men often collaborate and have worked together on projects, such as Superbad, Pineapple Express, and This Is the End. They won a Canadian Comedy Award for Superbad. 

Saul Rubinek is a German-born Canadian actor, director, and playwright. Encouraged to pursue acting by his parents, he enrolled at the Ottawa Little Theatre. After a successful Broadway career, he branched out to TV shows and films as well. He made his directorial debut with the black comedy film Jerry and Tom, earning a Sundance Film Festival award nomination. 

David Sutcliffe is a Canadian-American former actor best known for portraying the role of Christopher Hayden in the popular TV series Gilmore Girls. Also known for his philanthropic efforts, David Sutcliffe helped raise money for programs concerning children's mental health in 2013. He also participated in the World Poker Tour to benefit the Hollygrove House charity.

Paul Gross is a Canadian actor, director, producer, writer, and musician. He is best known for his association with the popular TV series Due South; in addition to playing the lead role of Constable Benton Fraser in the series, Gross also wrote and executive produced some of the episodes. Over the years, he has won many awards including Gemini Awards.

Gil Bellows is a Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter best known for his portrayal of Tommy Williams in the 1994 drama film The Shawshank Redemption. Renowned for playing emotionally ambiguous characters, Gil Bellows is often counted among the finest character actors from Canada.

The brother of former Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau and the brother of the current PM Justin Trudeau, Alexandre Trudeau is a documentary filmmaker and journalist who has covered events from Baghdad to the Balkans. He is also the author of Barbarian Lost, his reflection on his experiences in China.

Hart Bochner is a Canadian actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He is known for playing prominent roles in films like Rich and Famous, Mad at the Moon, and Liberty Stands Still. Also known for his work on TV, Bochner has played important roles in popular TV series, such as War and Remembrance, The Starter Wife, and Too Old To Die Young.

Suroosh Alvi is a Canadian filmmaker and journalist of Pakistani origin. He is credited with co-founding a digital media and broadcasting company called Vice Media which is currently operating in over 50 countries. As a filmmaker, Suroosh Alvi has produced documentaries that deal with controversial issues, such as the Iraq War and the rise of global terrorism.

Canadian-Australian actor Aden Young is best known to fans as Daniel Holden from Rectify. Born to a CBC broadcaster father, he participated in theater even as a child. He later also gained fame with films such as I, Frankenstein and The Unseen. He is married to Australian singer Loene Carmen.

Mack Sennett was a film actor, director, and producer. He specialized in comedy and was known as the 'King of Comedy'. Born in Canada in 1880, he moved to USA as a young man and entered the fledgling film industry as an actor. He found considerable success and went on to open Keystone Studios in Edendale.