Paul Haggis

Haggis: a Scottish dish made from the heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep boiled inside its own stomach. Paul Haggis: Canadian, a former Scientologist, a Hollywood film director. We're not sure which one we'd rather have at dinner.

Paul Haggis' directing résumé isn't as long or as varied as his writing one. Prior to directing Crash, Haggis directed a few episodes of TV shows like Family Law and Due South. Don't worry: we haven't heard of them, either. He also wrote the Academy Award-winning Million Dollar Baby, which basically involves Hilary Swank playing Rocky, but he did not direct it.

Post-Crash, Haggis directed In the Valley of Elah (2007), which is a much more cumbersome title than the snappy Crash, The Next Three Days (2010), and Third Person (2013), working with Russell Crowe, Liam Neeson, Charlize Theron, and Mila Kunis in the process.

Haggis' personal life, incidentally, is as interesting than any of these movies. In 2011, he broke ties with the Church of Scientology and told all to New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright. The Haggis-fueled exposé eventually turned into the book Going Clear, as well as the HBO documentary of the same name. Without Haggis, we may never have known of Tom Cruise's love for bee pollen. (Source)