There is nothing quite like the magic that happens once directors form a close bond with their actors. A kind of professional shorthand develops between the two, allowing them to communicate nearly telepathically. They understand each other's preferences and desires, they're capable of seeing each other's creative visions, they develop a kind of trust and loyalty, and they bring out the absolute best in one another. This can be seen in some of the earliest films: D.W. Griffiths made six films with Lillian Gish starting in 1915, and Josef von Sternberg made seven films with Marlene Dietrich from 1930-35.Sometimes, this relationship is founded upon romance and lust; many male directors fell in illicit love with their stars and cast them frequently if only to spend time with them. On occasion, the actor actually despises the director as a person but acknowledges their cinematic brilliance and cherishes the roles they are given, as in Tippi Hedren and Alfred Hitchcock, or Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog. Most of the time, though, it is only a creative marriage that develops between actor and director. Something special is birthed through collaboration in all these instances, brought into the viewer's world and given a life of its own. These are the best frequent actor-director duos.
12 David Lynch and Laura Dern
David Lynch was so enamored by Laura Dern's peformances that he once campaigned for her to get an Oscar nomination by sitting on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard for a day in a full suit, next to a real cow, in front of a canvas of Dern in her performance of his Inland Empire. What's crazier is that he's not wrong: Dern's performance in the underrated film is absolutely incredible. Lynch has brought out the best of her since casting Dern in Blue Velvet, and since then she goes above and way beyond what is expected of her in other films with the director.
11 Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Dunst
After finding success as a child actor, Kirsten Dunst gave credibility to Sofia Coppola's ethereal first film, The Virgin Suicides, and has frequently been the best part of the director's films since. Tapping into the specific aesthetic of Coppola better than anyone else (with its bourgeois, feminine, apathetic sense of cool), Dunst has shined in films such as The Beguiled, The Bling Ring, and Marie Antoinette, which is one of her greatest performances.
10 Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams
Through three excellent films (and an upcoming fourth), Kelly Reichardt has brought out the best in Michelle Williams, and vice versa, in her emotionally intense slice-of-life films. Their first, Wendy and Lucy, is a heartbreaking masterpiece about maturity and struggle, with Williams playing a homeless woman whose dog is her only friend in the world; she filmed this soon after the death of Heath Ledger, and the sadness and loneliness of the film is truly cathartic. She followed this up with the restrained but posied Meek's Cutoff and Certain Women, the latter of which features the aforementioned Laura Dern in an excellent performance. Williams' emotional vulnerability and skill in wordlessly expressing complex thoughts makes her the perfect pair with Reichardt's often quiet and moving films.
9 John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands
John Cassavetes and romantic/creative partner Gena Rowlands were one of the happiest and most loving couples in Hollywood's turbulent history, which shows in the 10 films they made together. They were both struggling actors when they met, and within four months were married. Beginning with 1968's Faces, Cassavetes went out of his way to ensure that the unique Rowlands had excellent roles she could commit to, and her depiction of a housewife's nervous breakdown in A Woman Under the Influence is considered one of the greatest performances in film history.
8 Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan
Michael B. Jordan's breakout fole was in Ryan Coogler's debut, Fruitvale Station, which ignited a fire in each artist's creative heart which still burns today. Appearing in all of Coogler's films and winning accolades and awards in Creed and Black Panther, Jordan has found a director who can tap into his inherent intensity. Their mutually beneficial partnership has prompted more inclusion in Hollywood and dropped the mic on producers everywhere after grossing $1.2 billion at the box office. With Jordan and Coogler, the upcoming Black Panther sequel may even surpass that.
7 Nicole Holofcener and Catherine Keener
Catherine Keener may be one of the most underrated actors working today, and her work with Nicole Holofcener is often her best. In five small films, Keener expertly navigates Holofcener's funny but often heartbreaking world of conflicted intellectuals struggling ethically and romantically. Interviewed by Variety, Holofcener has said of Keener, "she’s absolutely inspired me and is a part of the process for me," something wholly indicative of the inseparable and creative nature of actor-director collaborations.
6 Roberto Rosselini and Ingrid Bergman
An absolute scandal formed when the Hollywood star Ingrid Bergman fell in love with Italian director Roberto Rosselini during production of their 1950 film Stromboli. Bergman was married with children when the met the director and carried his child, causing outrage amongst her fans and the 'moral majority' which had loved her as a nun in The Bells of St. Mary and as the titular Joan of Arc; even the American Government reprimanded her, with senators calling her a "powerful influence for evil" in 1952. All this resulted in Bergman's exile to Europe, where she made some of Rosselini's best work before their divorce in '57.
5 Yasujiro Ozu and Chishu Ryu
No director has worked with an actor more than Yasujiro Ozu did with Chishu Ryu; Ryu appeared in 52 of the director's 54 films, either as a bit player or the lead protagonist. Their respective creativity was nearly inconceivable apart from each other, with Ozu guiding Ryu through the film industry and providing him not only a decent living but an opportunity to shine. "Although we were of the same age... he seemed to be my real father," Ryu once said, and judging by the way Ozu's camera treats him, audiences are inclined to agree.
4 Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann
Liv Ullmann had her first breakthrough role in Ingmar Bergman's 1966 masterpiece Persona, which launched her international career a year after beginning an affair with the married ladies' man. Though their affair lasted only five years, it sparked an intense creative blossoming in both Swedes, lasting nearly forty more years until Bergman's final film, Saraband. Their artistic and romantic relationship was documented in the 2012 film Liv & Ingmar. Something was let loose in their romance which was infinitely more meaningful than lust, so that the creative relationship became one of the most important aspects in both artist's lives; the result is a filmography which moves people to this day.
3 Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune
The sixteen films between legendary director Akira Kurosawa and his frequent muse Toshiro Mifune began when the latter was launched into stardom by Kurosawa's 1948 film Drunken Angel. Mifune's incredible performance was akin to the Brando of Japan-- his immensely physical acting, handsome features, powerful voice, intense eyes, and emotional vulnerability were rare in the early film industry of Japan. He would go on to become synonymous with samurai cinema thanks to Kurosawa's films Yojimbo and Seven Samurai.
2 Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro
The nine films made by Martin Scorsese with Robert De Niro are rightly considered some of the greatest of all time, beginning with Scorsese's first masterpiece, 1973's Mean Streets. It is rare that an actor and a director seem literally perfect for each other, but watching De Niro in Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, or Goodfellas leaves one with the impression that there is literally no other actor who could have captured Scorsese's vision. Though they took a nearly 25-year long break from each other, during which time Scorsese flourished with a new muse (Leonardo DiCaprio), they reunited in 2019's successful epic The Irishman and are currently working together on a new film.
1 Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski
One of the strangest actor-director relationships was between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski, which is captured in the documentary My Best Fiend. The five films they made are legendary, not only for the level of insanity Herzog was able to summon out of Kinski and the artistic brilliance Kinski elevated in Herzog, but for the absolutely bonkers interactions between the two. Kinski was a madman, and his antics on set were notorious, but he met his match in Werner Herzog, the Zen master of madness. Herzog once infamously held a loaded gun on Kinski when the actor attempted to walk off set; deep in the Peruvian jungle during one film, local natives offered to murder Kinski, which Herzog mulled over but eventually declined. The two were like massive forces of nature, and when they interacted, something powerful always happened.