Trivia

Black Hawk Down (2001) was originally the idea of West who urged producer Jerry Bruckheimer to obtain the rights of the book with a view to directing it himself. However, West abandoned the project to direct Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). Ridley Scott then directed Black Hawk Down.

Before Simon West started his feature film directorial career with Con Air (1997), he directed TV commercials, such as the Budweiser advert with the dancing ants.

Each of his first two films starred one of the leads of Face/Off (1997): Nicolas Cage in Con Air (1997) and John Travolta in The General's Daughter (1999).

One of 115 people invited to join AMPAS in 2007.

Box Office Milestone: Simon West is the only live-action director in history whose first three films all grossed over $100million at the U.S. box office: Con Air (1997), The General's Daughter (1999), and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001).

Music Video Fame: Before directing feature films, West directed the iconic 1987music video for Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up".

Commercial Success: He directed the famous Pepsi Super Bowl commercial featuring a little boy sucking himself into a bottle, which was rated the highest by USA Today that year.

Directing Action Legends: He directed The Expendables 2 (2012), bringing together action icons including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Chuck Norris.

British Film Background: West began his career as an assistant film editor with the BBC.

Oscar Nominated Producing: In addition to directing, he served as an executive producer on the Oscar-nominated film Black Hawk Down.

He was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 2007.