The most notable director/actor collaborations

If you watched the trailer for Wes Anderson’s upcoming film, “The French Dispatch,” you saw a lot of his trademarks. That includes cast members. Anderson, like a lot of directors, has his favorites whom he uses over and over, often with great results. A strong working relationship can get the best out of an actor and a director. Here are some of the directors and actors most synonymous with each other in the history of Hollywood. While some directors, Anderson included, could be tied to a half-dozen actors, we’re limiting each to two actors maximum.

Since Anderson’s film was the spark for this (and it's COVID postponement lets that continue to be the case, unfortunately), let’s start with one of his most beloved collaborators. Murray, a comedy legend since the ‘80s, got in early with Anderson, making a memorable supporting turn in “Rushmore.” Since then Murray has appeared in every Anderson film, though sometimes in a cameo role. Anderson lets Murray use a little of his dramatic chops more than, say, “Stripes” did back in the day.

Wilson, along with his brothers, Luke and Andrew, go way back with Anderson. They’ve known each other since their college days in Austin, Texas. Wilson doesn’t just act in Anderson’s films. The two also co-wrote Anderson’s first three movies, including his breakout film, “Rushmore.”

Ford worked in a day when directors churned out work, especially Westerns, his chosen genre. Wayne, another staple of the Western, had his breakout role in Ford’s 1939 film, “Stagecoach.” That was his first of a whopping 14 films that Wayne made with Ford.

Burton and Bonham Carter are both known for their eccentric styles, so it makes sense they ended up not just as frequent collaborators but also as romantic partners for over a decade. Their personal and professional partnerships began in 2001, and Bonham Carter proceeded to appear, or provide her voice, to eight straight Burton projects, ending with “Dark Shadows.”

That being said, when you think of Burton, the actor first in mind is probably Depp. When Depp was doing great acting in movies like “Ed Wood” and “Edward Scissorhands,” Burton was there. When Depp’s acting seemed to become mostly about weird hair and wacky costumes, well, Burton was there too. Interestingly, Depp’s last Burton film, as of now, was also “Dark Shadows.”

Ephron directed only eight films in her career, but Ryan starred in three of them. That includes two iconic romantic comedies “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail.” On top of that, she wrote “When Harry Met Sally…,” which also starred Ryan.

Scorsese and De Niro had the same breakout moment in Scorsese’s film “Mean Streets.” That was the beginning of a collaboration that led to films like “Raging Bull” and “Goodfellas.” Eventually Marty and Bobby would start working together less, but they reunited in 2019 for the epic film “The Irishman.”

When Scorsese finally won his Oscar for Best Director (and Best Picture), it wasn’t for a film starring De Niro. Instead, it was for “The Departed,” which starred DiCaprio. It’s one of several films they’ve made together after Leo basically replaced De Niro as Scorsese’s greatest muse. That includes “Gangs of New York” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Hitchcock made a ton of films, including some early, cheap British ones. Once he finally started making movies in America, and grew in stature, he picked up several notable collaborators. That includes one of the best actors to never win an acting Oscar in Grant. He starred in four of Hitch’s films, with “North by Northwest” probably being the best remembered. After all, that’s the movie with the iconic scene of a plane trying to gun him down.

Hitchcock loved his blonde actresses, though he did not always treat them well. Kelly was the blonde of choice for three of Hitch’s films. This is notable because she made only 11 movies in her career. She then married into the royal family of Monaco and retired from acting. Kelly was actually planning to return to the big screen to star in Hitchcock’s “Marnie,” but sadly she died in a car accident before she could.

After starting his career as a screenwriter in Germany, Wilder moved to America and became one of the foremost directors of his generation. One of his key collaborators during that time was Lemmon, who was often paired with Walter Matthau as well. However, there is no Matthau in arguably the two greatest films produced by the pairing of Wilder and Lemmon: “Some Like It Hot” and “The Apartment.”

When you think of Stewart, you may think of Frank Capra, and with good reason! A couple of Capra’s biggest films featured Stewart, such as “It’s a Wonderful Life.” That being said, Mann and Stewart’s careers basically went hand-in-hand during the ‘50s. In the span of five years these two made eight films together starring Stewart, most of them Westerns.

McKay has moved on to making Oscar-nominated political films, but before that he and Ferrell combined to make some of the dumbest comedies in history, and we mean that as a compliment. They joined forces for their company, Gary Sanchez Productions, and on Funny or Die, but most importantly the first five films that McKay directed all starred Ferrell, including the legendary “Anchorman.”

Hepburn is a true Hollywood legend, and the four-time Oscar winner for Best Actress worked with all sorts of famous directors. Nobody did more work with her than Cukor, a legend in his own right, who directed her in a whopping eight films, including “A Bill of Divorcement,” her first-ever film.

Joel and Ethan Coen are great collaborators, but one assumes that Ethan isn’t Joel’s favorite person to collaborate with. That would probably be McDormand, given that she and Joel have been married since 1984, the year she starred in the Coen Brothers’ debut, “Blood Simple.” That was the first of nine films they have made together.

The Coens love a loud, big man, and Goodman does that role better than anybody else. Just think of him as Walter Sobchak in “The Big Lebowski.” That’s one of only six roles he’s performed for the Coens. Walter may be his most famous, but his turn in “Barton Fink” may be the best work he’s done in his career.

Yes, this one is early to call. Gerwig has only directed two movies. However, they both were nominated for Best Picture, and they both starred Ronan, and the two have quickly become synonymous. “Little Women” definitely isn’t the last time the two are going to work together.

Sadly, these two won’t get to work together again. Hoffman, arguably the best actor of his generation, acted in five of Anderson’s films. He was truly stellar every single time, especially in “The Master,” for which he should have won an Oscar. Hoffman’s tragic death from a drug overdose ended a truly magical partnership between director and actor.

These are two old-school men from a bygone era of Hollywood, but they both were among the best at their given crafts. Bogart gave one of his most indelible performances as Sam Spade in Huston’s directorial debut, “The Maltese Falcon.” That was the first of six films they made together, including “African Queen,” the film that won Bogart his acting Oscar.

Dunst was one of the stars of Coppola’s debut, “The Virgin Suicides.” Admittedly, it was Scarlett Johansson who starred in her biggest hit and most famous film, “Lost in Translation,” but Dunst has starred in three of Coppola’s six films. She also has a cameo in “The Bling Ring” as herself, for good measure. If we were letting actors double up, we could have also given Murray and Coppola a shout out, especially after "On the Rocks," which doesn't feature Dunst.

Tarantino has worked with a few folks regularly. Christoph Waltz and Tarantino are certainly tied together, given that Waltz has won Oscars for both of his roles in Quentin’s films. That’s only two films though. Jackson has appeared in six of Tarantino’s movies, including “Pulp Fiction,” arguably his quintessential role.

We tried to avoid film series, and admittedly three of Caine’s appearances in Nolan films are from the Batman trilogy. However, there’s more to the story here. In addition to three appearances as Alfred, Caine has acted in four other Nolan movies. On top of that, he provided a voice in “Dunkirk."

They’ve been together for only three films, but these two really packed a punch. Fincher directed Pitt in “Se7en,” “Fight Club” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” Though he just won an Oscar for a Tarantino film, Pitt’s still arguably best remembered for “Fight Club,” and these two will forever be remembered as collaborators.

We didn’t want to include Harrison Ford just because of the Indiana Jones films. That’s more about an actor and a director who are synonymous with the same character. The Spielberg and Hanks connection is something different altogether. Hanks, the most beloved actor of his era, has been in six of Spielberg’s films, two populists who have found themselves on the same wavelength.

Comedians can collaborate too. McCarthy had her breakout performance and got a rare Oscar nomination for a pure comedy role, in Feig’s movie “Bridesmaids.” That was just the beginning. McCarthy went on to star in Feig’s next three films, “The Heat, “Spy” and “Ghostbusters.” It’s been a few years, but a reunion between these two comedy powerhouses could arrive someday.