Directors and their actors

Editors Note: Sinners is a great movie and would highly recommend it.

This week marks the release the highly anticipated horror/thriller film Sinners(!), which also marks the 5th collaboration between its director Ryan Coogler and leading man Michael B. Jordan. Michael B. and Coogler sort of represent this new age of great directing/acting partnerships that we have come to know and anxiously await that duos next film. The Emma Stone/Yorgos Lanthimos, Daniel Kaluuya/Jordan Peele, and Saiorse Ronan/Greta Gerwig are some that come top of mind almost immediately. Maybe one day we will be able to look back and they will be able to rival some of the all time great creative partnerships between a directing genius and acting legend. So I thought it could be a cool idea to explore why directors go back to actors time and time again, and the same vice versa.

From a directors perspective, I think there is one huge reason that they would go back to the same actor over and over again. There could be a debate whether or not movies are art, but I believe that they are, which would in turn make directors also artists. So you aren’t just making disposable garbage like a Fast and Furious movie, but making something that interest you, the director, and is a story that you feel needs to be told. You also want to keep being able to make movies that are of interest to you and not have to go make a studio cash grab to earn that cache from the studios. Because for the most part, you are only as good as your last movie. Clint Eastwood has made Warner Brothers more money and won them more awards than maybe any director who has ever stepped behind the camera. But his 2019 and 2021 films, Richard Jewell and Cry Macho, really underperformed for the studio. So he had a lot of troubles getting his most recent movie, Juror #2, even made. Then the movie was given a rather unceremoniously release, even though it was pretty decent (even good compared to a lot of other 2024 releases). So there is no loyalty in the entertainment industry at all.

With each new movie that means, you are proving yourself all over again. Which in turn makes every movie from auteurs a big swing of sorts. So looking at Ryan Coogler for example, Warner Brothers gives you a 100 million dollar budget to make your original vampire, non-IP film. If it pops off big, then you are set for whatever original idea you would next have cooking up. But if it is a fail, you can bet whatever dollar amount that you want that studios are going to be hesitant at the very least to shell out any money when you just had an underperforming film. So if you are Ryan Coogler, the pressure is on. So who are you going to call to be the lead of your film? Sure there are a lot of great black actors out there who could play the dual roles, but why not turn to your regular collaborator Michael B. Jordan? An actor who you trust, knows your process, and most importantly is your friend.

As stated at the beginning of this article, this will be the 5th team up between the duo. But this also marks just Cooglers 5th directed movie he has made. So every movie he has made starting back at the beginning with Fruitvale Station through the release of Sinners this week has starred Michael B. Jordan in some capacity, usually a significant one. You don’t work with someone that often if you are people who don’t respect each other, or aren’t friends. Making a movie is really hard and an excruciating process dealing with all the non “I’m just making a movie” parts of the industry. So for a director, when you meet an actor in the industry who you work with, form a bond, it just became necessary from a certain point of view to keep working with them. Usually you see director/actor partnerships start at an early point in their careers. It isn’t like a a director is making their 8th film or something and then finds their collaborator for life. It does happen sometimes, see Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese, but usually it is formed early on in boths career, see Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese. And sometimes it is formed before either person even starts or thinks about starting to work in the industry, see Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson.

From the actors perspective a lot of the same holds true. It is nice to work with a friend, someone who knows and respects your process as an actor. Also acting is a much more up and down business I feel like, so on some level I think it is just nice to have that guaranteed work. But let’s go back to this idea of these partnerships forming at the beginning of a young career. The most famous acting/directing duo of all time is 100% Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese. While a lot could be said that Scorsese wouldn’t have the career he has had if De Niro wasn’t giving excellent leading performances in stuff like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, and a few more! And that is all probably true, but what is also true and less common knowledge is that Robert De Niro’s first role of any real significance in Hollywood was in Mean Streets, and given to him by Martin Scorsese. As an actor I believe you are always trying to prove yourself, especially when you are starting out, but the person you are trying to prove yourself to the most, is yourself. Constantly going to auditions and not getting parts doesn’t inspire a lot of faith in one’s own ability, so it is easy to lose belief.

So when a director like Martin Scorsese or whoever, shows that belief in yourself at a time when no one else does, it means a lot. No one ever forgets who gave them their chance to just be someone, something. So in a way you can look at all the incredible heights De Niro went to with Scorsese, and since he is the actor gets the most recognition. But you also can’t look the other way and not see that Scorsese is someone who gave De Niro his shot and De Niro will never forget that and that is why 50 years later they are still making movies with one another.

I am a big David Lynch fan and one of his two close muses Kyle MacLachlan (Laura Dern being the other) I believe once told a story about his first role ever, which was the lead in Dune (1984) directed by Lynch. That version of Dune is one of the great all time failures of a movie in pretty much all respects, Lynch himself I believe disowned the film. So it being such a failure and that being MacLachlan’s only role at that point, it would be a surprise to no one if he never worked again. But David Lynch saw something and cast him in the lead of his next feature Blue Velvet (which is probably Lynch’s most acclaimed and mainstream film). MacLachlan has gotten some pretty shaken confidence at this point, so I believe the story goes the first day is super nervous and Lynch just comes up to him and says “you’re gonna do great, you got this, I believe in you, believe in yourself” or something along those lines. The rest is history as Blue Velvet was a hit and then they would go on to pair up and make over 50 hours of what I think is the greatest show of all time, Twin Peaks.

One more thing I just really want to harp on is the idea of not just a creative partnership, but also a friendship and why that is so important to these duos. You might ask, is it really important that these people be friends? Well no one wants to go to to work with someone they dislike, but you can also get by for sure not necessarily being friends, but rather just work colleagues. But another duo I think shows why it is important to be true friends is Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater, who I believe have made 10 projects together. While making Boyhood (shot over 12 years) Hawke was going through a divorce and so was his character in the film. So struggling with his personal life and work life coinciding, Linklater suggested using that. Use what he viewed as his failures from his personal life in the film and maybe that could be a way to cope. If you aren’t friends with someone you are going to, not even respectfully, just tell the person to fuck off. But being friends Hawke was receptive to it and did use it, earning a supporting actor nomination along the way. Directing and acting especially is something that you need to be super vulnerable in order to do a good job. So you need a friend in those moments to get you to where you need to be in those moments. Hell sometimes you could be Frances McDormand and even marry them!

I listed a few of the great duos amongst the many years/decades in film, but I want to make sure to list a lot more. So if you are still reading to this point, feel free to keep scrolling and see some of the iconic duos, but if not THANK YOU for reading. And let me know your favorite actor and director partnership!

Woody Allen (Diane Keaton), Paul Thomas Anderson (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Wes Anderson (Bill Murray and Owen Wilson), Tim Burton (Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp), John Carpenter (Kurt Russell), Coen Brothers (Frances McDormand), Sofia Coppola (Kirsten Dunst), David Fincher (Brad Pitt), Richard Linklater (Ethan Hawke), Spike Lee (Denzel Washington), David Lynch (Laura Dern and Kyle MacLachlan), Christopher McQuarrie (Tom Cruise), Christopher Nolan (Michael Caine and Cillian Murphy), Kevin Smith (Ben Affleck), Martin Scorsese (Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio), Quentin Tarantino (Samuel L. Jackson)