Making a movie is a team effort. All crew must believe in the movie and work towards making sure that it’s a success. That’s why we see certain Directors always working with the same actors over and over again. You want to know why? Because of the familiarity they have built with these actors overtime and the believe that these actors know what they want from them.

Today we will be profiling ten of such relationships.

Richard Linklater & Ethan Hawke

Jobs done together – Before Sunrise, The Newton Boys, Tape, Waking Life, Before Sunset, Fast Food Nation, Before Midnight, Boyhood.

Linklater and Hawke relationship have produced some of the best movies in Hollywood. They both achieved fame when “Before Sunrise” was released. The movie helped Hawke to become a mega-star and one of Hollywood top actors.

We observed that whenever the two link up for any movie whether it is a psychodrama like “Tape” or a political ensemble like “Fast Food Nation” it is always captivating and thrilling. Their most recent collaboration “Boyhood” proves this.

The Coen Brothers & Frances McDormand

Jobs done together – Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Burn After Reading, Hail Ceasar

Talking about some technical stuff in Hollywood, then this trio should not be left out.
When it comes to the Coen Brothers not all actors can thrive with their works, but when they do, the brothers are known for holding on to such actors and never allowing them to go.

Actors such as George Clooney, John Turturro, John Goodman and Steve Buscemi are all regular faces of the Coen Brothers but not as regular as Frances McDormand.

She has become like a signature feature for all their movies, not seeing her in any of their movies will make you ponder whether it’s the Coen Brothers movie. From their first works, “Blood Simple” to “Miller’s Crossing”, McDormand has featured in almost half of the movie directed by the brothers.

The beautiful role she played in “Fargo” helped put her on the map and increased the Coen’s reputation. Some folks have referred her as the glue that hold the Coen’s works together.

Billy Wilder & Jack Lemmon

Jobs done together – Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Irma la Douce, The Fortune Cookie, Avanti!, The Front Page, Buddy Buddy

Talk about someone changing your life completely, well this story of Wilder and Lemmon has an element of it. Lemmon was an onscreen sidekick with little popularity while Wilder had been already a hot cake in Hollywood. Within a few years of the two working together, Wilder was able to transform Lemmon into an actor taking up lead roles and he became a superstar in the eyes of everyone in Hollywood.

Their relationship was based on mutual respect and understanding. Their biggest hit was “Some Like It Hot”. The film still remains a classic till today. Though their next works never reached the “Some Like it Hot” heights, their remaining works were beautiful and well-respected.

Tim Burton & Johnny Depp

Jobs done together – Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland, Dark Shadows

O yeah. My favorite actor and director of all time. Anytime you see a Tim Burton movie there is a 98% chance that Johnny Depp will be in it and we sure do love their combination.

These two are well-known for their magic with movies, they both have that chemistry together. From the 1990’s Edward Scissorhands – which is being described as Depp’s most iconic performance, the two have sure shown the world that they can tell a story with macabre theatrics and magical cinematography. Burton’s method of directing falls in line with Depp’s way of acting.

They both have worked on big time Hollywood movies which in years to come will marvel generations. The two are hard to beat and their works magical.

Woody Allen & Diane Keaton

Jobs done together – Sleeper, Love and Death, Annie Hall, Interiors, Manhattan, Radio Days, Manhattan Murder Mystery

Allen and Keaton “Annie Hall” remains one of the best comedies to have ever been made. The movie also displays everything, why we love their combination.
As a couple their relationship was weird, so also was their professional relationship, but I kind of like it that way because am weird also.
“Manhattan Murder Mystery” still remains one of their best film together.

Wes Anderson & Billy Murray

Jobs done together – Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Fatanstic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Murray and Anderson collaboration have provided us epic films that will be talked about. Form “Rushmore” to the “Grand Budapest Hotel”, these two have proven to have a winning formula that keeps movie lovers yearning for more.

John Ford & John Wayne

Jobs done together – Stagecoach, The Long Voyage Home, They were Expendable, Fort Apache, Three Godfathers, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, The Wings of Eagles, The Horse Soldiers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Donovan’s Reef, How the West Was Won.

These duo have made twenty movies together. In some countries that’s legally considered a marriage.

Ford transformed Wayne from a B list actor into an A list actor. Movie by movie Wayne took John by the hand and took him through the rudiment of acting and he continued transforming him throughout his career. Ford was able to bring out the best out of Wayne and these can be seen in hit movies like “The Quiet man”, “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” and “Three Godfathers”.

You might also know that it is this relationship that helped popularize Wayne’s cowboy persona. The average rotten Tomatoes score for their collaboration is 90%. There is no collaboration that have been able to meet that number.

John Woo & Chow Yun Fat

Jobs done together – A Better Tomorrow, A Better Tomorrow II, The Killer, Once A Thief, Hard Boiled

Woo was credited to have reinvented action cinema’s in the 90s. Woo and Fat first movie “A Better Tomorrow” was so beautifully crafted that it kicked off a new style for action movies that will be emulated 10 – 15 years later. Released in 1986, the movie had that 90’s feel and it set the tone on how action movies should be made.

The two part ways when they entered the American Market but they both haven’t been good without one another.

Martin Scorsese & Robert De Niro

Jobs done together – Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, New York New York, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Casino, The Audition, The Irishman

If not for Martin Scorsese there wouldn’t have been a Robert De Niro. Imagine all these films Robert De Niro made without Scorsese – “Backdraft”, “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein”, “The Fan”, heard of any? No you haven’t . Thought as much. If not for Scorsese casting him in “Travis Bickle” there wouldn’t have been a Robert De Niro. Scorsese been an individual who has a great eye for talents was able to tap into De Niro’s honesty which was brilliant and brutal. Together they have created awesome films.

When Scorsese took a break in the mid 90’s he had already created the leverage for De Niro to be an A-List actor. He returned in 2002 with the “Gangs of New York”, with Leonardo DI Caprio has lead. Together, he and Caprio would go on to create special movies, but the magic he created with De Niro cannot be matched.


Source: https://sixgeeks.com/top-ten-director-actor-duo-time/