List of frequent Coen Brothers collaborators

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The Coen brothers , a sibling duo of filmmakers, are known for their frequent collaborations with various actors and film crew members. Though they write and direct as a team, for many of their films they split the credits, with Joel Coen as director and Ethan Coen as producer, and the two credited jointly as writers.

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Recurring cast members

Joel's wife Frances McDormand is their most frequent acting collaborator Frances McDormand 2015 (cropped).jpg
Joel's wife Frances McDormand is their most frequent acting collaborator

Like most directors, the Coens have frequently cast certain actors in their films. The brothers have most frequently worked with Frances McDormand (9 films); Steve Buscemi and John Goodman (7 films each); Jon Polito and Stephen Root (5 films each); and Bruce Campbell, George Clooney, John Turturro, and Warren Keith (4 films each). They have also worked three times with Michael Badalucco, Josh Brolin, Richard Jenkins, and J.K. Simmons, and twice each with Tim Blake Nelson, Jeff Bridges, Clancy Brown, Charles Durning, Brendan Gleeson, Holly Hunter, Ralph Ineson, Scarlett Johansson, John Mahoney, Jefferson Mays, Elizabeth Marvel, Harry Melling, Tony Shalhoub, Peter Stormare, Tilda Swinton, Billy Bob Thornton, and M. Emmet Walsh.

Recurring crew members

The Coens similarly tend to collaborate with certain filmmakers as well, especially Roger Deakins, Jess Gonchor, Skip Lievsay, and Mary Zophres. They used cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld on their first three films, through Miller's Crossing, until Sonnenfeld left to pursue his own directing career. Deakins has been the Coen brothers' cinematographer for all their subsequent films except Burn After Reading, on which they employed Emmanuel Lubezki, [1] and Inside Llewyn Davis and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, on which they employed Bruno Delbonnel. [2]

Sam Raimi is another frequent collaborator. He helped write The Hudsucker Proxy, which the Coen brothers directed, and the Coen brothers helped write Crimewave , which Raimi directed. Raimi took tips about filming A Simple Plan (1998) from the Coen brothers, who had recently finished Fargo. (Both films are set in blindingly white snow, which reflects much light and can make metering for a correct exposure tricky).[ citation needed ] Raimi has cameo appearances in Miller's Crossing and The Hudsucker Proxy. Raimi and the Coens met when Raimi directed The Evil Dead (1981), for which Joel was hired as an assistant editor. [3]

Carter Burwell has scored all of the Coens' films, aside from Crimewave (1985), although T Bone Burnett produced much of the traditional music in O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Ladykillers, and was in charge of archive music for The Big Lebowski. [4] Skip Lievsay handles the sound editing for all of the Coens' films. [5]

Most of the Coens' films have been credited to the editor "Roderick Jaynes", an alias which refers collectively to the two Coen brothers. [6] Tricia Cooke, Ethan's wife, was also an editor on three of their films (The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and The Man Who Wasn't There) after working as assistant editor on four of their earlier films (Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy, and Fargo). Michael R. Miller edited Raising Arizona and Miller's Crossing.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coen brothers</span> American filmmakers

Joel Daniel Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen, collectively known as the Coen brothers, are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Their most acclaimed works include Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). Many of their films are distinctly American, often examining the culture of the American South and American West in both modern and historical contexts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Raimi</span> American filmmaker (born 1959)

Samuel M. Raimi is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for directing the first three films in the Evil Dead franchise (1981–present) and the Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the superhero Darkman (1990), the revisionist western The Quick and the Dead (1995), the neo-noir crime-thriller A Simple Plan (1998), the supernatural thriller The Gift (2000), the supernatural horror Drag Me to Hell (2009), the Disney fantasy Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), and the Marvel Studios film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).

<i>The Big Lebowski</i> 1998 film by Joel and Ethan Coen

The Big Lebowski is a 1998 independent crime comedy film directed and co-written by Joel Coen, with producer brother Ethan Coen serving as co-writer. It stars Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler. He is assaulted as a result of mistaken identity, then learns that a millionaire, also named Jeffrey Lebowski, was the intended victim. The millionaire Lebowski's trophy wife is supposedly kidnapped, and millionaire Lebowski commissions The Dude to deliver the ransom to secure her release. The plan goes awry when the Dude's friend, Walter Sobchak, schemes to keep the ransom money for the Dude and himself. Sam Elliott, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, David Thewlis, Peter Stormare, Jon Polito, and Ben Gazzara also appear in supporting roles.

<i>Millers Crossing</i> 1990 film by the Coen brothers

Miller's Crossing is a 1990 American neo-noir gangster film written, directed and produced by the Coen brothers and starring Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro, Jon Polito, J. E. Freeman, and Albert Finney. The plot concerns a power struggle between two rival gangs and how the protagonist, Tom Reagan (Byrne), plays both sides against each other.

<i>The Hudsucker Proxy</i> 1994 US comedy film by the Coen brothers

The Hudsucker Proxy is a 1994 screwball comedy film co-written, produced, and directed by the Coen brothers. Sam Raimi co-wrote the script and served as second unit director. The film stars Tim Robbins as a naïve but ambitious business school graduate who is installed as president of a manufacturing company, Jennifer Jason Leigh as a newspaper reporter, and Paul Newman as a company director who hires the graduate as part of a stock scam.

<i>The Man Who Wasnt There</i> (2001 film) 2001 film by Joel and Ethan Coen

The Man Who Wasn't There is a 2001 neo-noir crime film written, directed, and produced by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, Richard Jenkins, Scarlett Johansson, Jon Polito, Tony Shalhoub, and James Gandolfini. The film is set in 1949 and tells the story of Ed Crane, a withdrawn barber who leads an ordinary life in a small California town with his wife, who he suspects is having an affair with her boss. Crane's situation changes when a stranger comes to the barbershop and offers him the opportunity to join him as a partner in a promising new business, in exchange for an investment of ten thousand dollars. Drawn to the idea, Crane plans to blackmail his wife's lover for the money.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Sonnenfeld</span> American film director and cinematographer (born 1953)

Barry Sonnenfeld is an American filmmaker and television director. He originally worked as a cinematographer for the Coen brothers before directing films such as The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel Addams Family Values (1993), Get Shorty (1995), the Men in Black trilogy (1997–2012), and Wild Wild West (1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Turturro</span> American actor

John Michael Turturro is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his varied complex roles in independent films. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, Adam Sandler, and Spike Lee. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award and nominations for four Screen Actors Guild Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.

<i>Barton Fink</i> 1991 film by the Coen brothers

Barton Fink is a 1991 American period black comedy psychological thriller film written, produced, edited and directed by the Coen brothers. Set in 1941, it stars John Turturro in the title role as a young New York City playwright who is hired to write scripts for a film studio in Hollywood, and John Goodman as Charlie Meadows, the insurance salesman who lives next door at the run-down Hotel Earle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Deakins</span> British cinematographer

Sir Roger Alexander Deakins is an English cinematographer. He is the recipient of five BAFTA Awards for Best Cinematography, and two Academy Awards for Best Cinematography from sixteen nominations. He has collaborated multiple times with directors the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes, and Denis Villeneuve. His best-known works include The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Fargo (1996), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Skyfall (2012), Sicario (2015), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and 1917 (2019), the last two of which earned him Academy Awards.

<i>Crimewave</i> 1985 film by Sam Raimi

Crimewave is a 1985 American comedy film directed by Sam Raimi, from a screenplay he co-wrote with the Coen brothers. It stars Reed Birney, Sheree J. Wilson, Paul L. Smith, Brion James, Louise Lasser and Bruce Campbell, with the latter also serving as a co-producer. An unusual slapstick mix of film noir, black comedy, Hitchcockian suspense, and B-movie conventions, Crimewave portrays bizarre situations involving a nebbish everyman (Birney) entangled in a murderous plot while pursuing his love interest (Wilson).

<i>No Country for Old Men</i> 2007 film by Ethan and Joel Coen

No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel of the same name. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin, the film is set in the desert landscape of 1980 West Texas. The film revisits the themes of fate, conscience, and circumstance that the Coen brothers had explored in the films Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), and Fargo (1996). The film follows three main characters: Llewelyn Moss (Brolin), a Vietnam War veteran and welder who stumbles upon a large sum of money in the desert; Anton Chigurh (Bardem), a hitman who is sent to recover the money; and Ed Tom Bell (Jones), a sheriff investigating the crime. The film also stars Kelly Macdonald as Moss's wife, Carla Jean, and Woody Harrelson as Carson Wells, a bounty hunter seeking Moss and the return of the $2 million.

<i>The Ladykillers</i> (2004 film) 2004 film by Joel and Ethan Coen

The Ladykillers is a 2004 American black comedy crime thriller film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The Coens' screenplay was based on the 1955 British Ealing comedy film of the same name, which was written by William Rose. The Coens produced the remake, together with Tom Jacobson, Barry Sonnenfeld, and Barry Josephson. It stars Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, J. K. Simmons, Tzi Ma and Ryan Hurst, and marks the first time that the Coens have worked with Tom Hanks and the first remake by the Coens. This was the first film in which Joel and Ethan Coen share both producing and directing credits; previously Joel had always been credited as director and Ethan as producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skip Lievsay</span>

Skip Lievsay is an American supervising sound editor, re-recording mixer and sound designer for film and television, Lievsay has worked with filmmakers and directors including the Coen brothers, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Jonathan Demme and Robert Altman.

Tricia Cooke is an American editor, screenwriter and producer.

David Diliberto is an American filmmaker.

<i>Inside Llewyn Davis</i> 2013 film by Joel and Ethan Coen

Inside Llewyn Davis is a 2013 period black comedy drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1961, the film follows one week in the life of Llewyn Davis, played by Oscar Isaac in his breakthrough role, a folk singer struggling to achieve musical success while keeping his life in order. The supporting cast includes Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, F. Murray Abraham, Justin Timberlake and Adam Driver.

The 17th Online Film Critics Society Awards, honoring the best in film for 2013, were announced on 16 December 2013.

Joel and Ethan Coen, collectively referred to as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. The brothers write, direct and produce their films jointly, and have edited almost all of them under the collective pseudonym Roderick Jaynes.

References

  1. "Burn After Reading: The Coens go back to their kooky roots". Empire . December 2007. p. 30.
  2. Desowitz, Bill (December 4, 2013). "New York Film Critics' Cinematography Winner Delbonnel Goes 'Inside Llewyn Davis'". New York City: Indiewire. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  3. Beggs, Scott (May 23, 2012). "6 FILMMAKING TIPS FROM THE COEN BROTHERS". Film School Rejects. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  4. Mottram, James (January 19, 2014). "T Bone Burnett: 'Inside Llewyn Davis? It's the story of my life'". The Independent . Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  5. Beggs, Scott (April 24, 2015). "Tribeca: Here's Why the Coen Brothers' Films Always Sound Magnificent". Indiewire . Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  6. Yuan, Jada (January 22, 2008). "Roderick Jaynes, Imaginary Oscar Nominee for 'No Country'". New York . Retrieved July 10, 2014.