Simon West directed the Nicolas Cage action thriller Con Air, but before that, he directed one of the most infamous music videos in history. Released in 1997, Con Air came out during the short time that Cage was the top action movie star in the world, with hits like The Rock and Face/Off released before and after this movie. The story had Cage play Cameron Poe, a man arrested for involuntary manslaughter for killing a man in self-defense. However, he ends up on a prison plane with a serial killer who has an escape planned.

Con Air was Simon West’s feature-length debut. He went on to direct Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the second Expendables movie. However, before he made his mark in film, West made his name as a music video director. He worked on videos for Captain Sensible, Mel & Kim, and Mike + The Mechanics. However, his biggest music video credit is one of the most infamous in history. Simon West directed the Rick Astley music video for “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

Con Air Director Simon West Also Directed Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” Music Video

Simon West Directed The Rickroll Music Video

Simon West directed two music videos for the sister duo Mel & Kim: “Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)” and “Respectable.” He also worked with Genesis guitarist Mike Ruitherford’s side project, Mike + the Mechanics, directing the video for “Everybody Gets a Second Chance.” However, his most notable music video was for Rick Astley and the song “Never Gonna Give You Up.” This was a big deal, and it got him noticed when the song became a number-one hit. However, its legacy was a nightmare for the director (via Metro):

“It was one of those things that haunts you… I thought I’d done much bigger and more impressive stuff than that. But of course it’s the one that goes to number one across the world. I’d be shooting in Australia, and it would come up, I’d go to Canada, and the thing just follows you around. And then it dies down for 20 or 30 years, and then Rickrolling comes around, and the damn thing comes back again! And starts haunting you again.”

The Rick Astley “Never Gonna Give You Up” video has over 1.2 billion YouTube views and has become a viral sensation. Even worse for West, the movie has become a meme: People pretend to send a video, and then the music video starts to play instead as a prank—which became known as Rickrolling. West even said that it had happened to him more than once.

“People are sensitive to it [but] people who know me really well know that I’m not gonna go ballistic. [It has happened] three or four times. But when it happens, it’s the worst thing! You think they’re gonna send you a cool video about surfing or something and up it comes.”

Other Major Movie Directors Who Were Behind Famous Music Videos

Spike Jonze, David Fincher, & More

Arguably, Spike Jonze is the most prolific music video director to have a successful movie career. He has over 100 credits to his name as a director of movies, music videos, and shorts. This includes some major music videos from bands like Arcade Fire (“The Suburbs”), Fatboy Slim (“Praise You”), Weezer (“Buddy Holly”), and Beastie Boys (“Sabotage”). Of course, on the big screen, Jonze directed acclaimed movies like Where The Wild Things Are and Her.

Even bigger in Hollywood, David Fincher has also dabbled in music videos. The director behind Fight Club, Gone Girl, and Se7en has also worked with several bands by directing several videos. He has worked with bands as varied as Nine Inch Nails (“Only”), Justin Timberlake (“Suit & Tie”), George Michael (“Freedom! ’90”), Aerosmith (“Janie’s Got a Gun”), and Billy Idol (“Cradle of Love”).

Antoine Fuqua directed Denzel Washington to an Oscar in Training Day and directed music videos for Coolio (“Gangsta’s Paradise”) and Prince (“The Most Beautiful Girl in the World”). Francis Lawrence directed movies in The Hunger Games franchise and music videos by Lady Gaga (“Bad Romance”) and Aerosmith (“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”). Michel Gondry is the acclaimed director behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and directed “Believe” by Lenny Kravitz and “Everlong” by the Foo Fighters. Con Air director Simon West has some pretty big company.