Subtle Shorthand: Directors & Actors Who Keep Working Together—Part II

Some frequent collaborations between a director and actor are so high wattage they’re known by last name alone: Scorcese and DiCaprio. Burton and Depp. But other repeated pairings of a director and actor glow a little less brightly. Some are even under the radar. In part two of a two-part series, the Credits reveals what makes four such collaborations tick. Read part one here.

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Actor: Danny Trejo

Movies (10): Desperado (1995);

“My Muse”: Directors & Actors Who Keep Working Together—Part I

The Wolf of Wall Street marks the fifth collaboration between director Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio. But not all frequent director-actor pairings are made in A-list heaven. Many high-profile directors collaborate repeatedly with an actor who simply shares a similar vision, understands their method, or can read between the lines of a script—no matter if the actor is famous or a B-lister. In part one of a two-part series, the Credits takes a look at four frequent director-actor pairings you may not have realized have been right under your nose for years to discover what makes those collaborations tick.

What a Champ: A Q&A with David Koechner of Anchorman 2

The highly anticipated sequel to 2004’s Anchorman opened Wednesday at midnight after what was possibly the greatest (and most hilarious) marketing campaign in the history of film. David Koechner, who stars as Champ Kind, the sportscaster on Ron Burgundy’s (Will Ferrell) news team, attended a Tuesday night premiere at Washington D.C.’s Newseum and offered this advice to anyone worried that The Legend Continues will tarnish the beloved status of the original: “Don’t worry!”

Going Viral: The Hilariously Savvy Selling of Anchorman 2

When Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was released in July 2004, YouTube was just a glimmer in the eye of three PayPal employees and the world’s now-ubiquitous social network was still known as The Facebook and open only to college students. What a difference nine-and-a-half years makes.

Despite being released almost exactly two years before the launch of Twitter (and three years before star Will Ferrell and co-writer/director Adam McKay created their wildly popular humor channel,

Fashion Lessons From 10 Golden Globe Nominated Actors & Actresses

When we looked at the Golden Globes list of acting nominees, we were struck by how these characters would make really compelling fashion icons. Seriously. Aside from being a spectacular year for film, it's been a spectacular year for costume design. American Hustle alone is like a hair and wardrobe fever dream—you know you're enjoying everything about a film when you could mute it and still marvel at what's on display.

Explaining the Characters of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug via Photos

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth has a teeming population that can be very hard to keep track of. Hobbits, dwarves, elves, orcs, wizards, trolls, goblins, men, women, giant eagles, giant spiders, stone giants, wargs, skin-changers, and yes, dragons (to name a few).

With the release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug coming December 13, we thought a good way of reacquainting you with some of the characters (and introducing you to some new ones) would be through visual identification.

Breaking Braddock: New Christian Bale Film Puts Spotlight on Hard Hit Town

Director Scott Cooper’s new movie, Out of the Furnace, boasts a cast that includes Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Zoé Saldana, Sam Shepard and Forest Whitaker. It’s a thrilling drama about the lengths we’ll go for family, and, what pernicious elements fills the void in a town when the jobs disappear. Filmed and set in the ragged, depressed Rust Belt town of Braddock, Pennsylvania, Bale’s Russell Baze works at a mill that is likely going under,

Steve Coogan on his “Surprising” Serious Turn in Philomena

Steve Coogan is a major star in Britain, but his work in American films (2010’s remarkably funny The Trip and the 2004 remake of Around the World in 80 Days, among others) never made much of an impact. He first read about the real-life Philomena Lee in an article in The Guardian newspaper. He then optioned BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith’s 2009 book “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee,”

The Perfect Note: Oscar Isaac’s Inside Llewyn Davis Performance

Oscar Isaac has a long-overdue star-making role as the title character in the Coen brothers' new film, Inside Llewyn Davis, the story of one week in the life of a folk singer living in 1961 New York. T. Bone Burnett, who also worked with the Coen brothers on Oh Brother Where Art Thou? produced the soundtrack, which includes folk standards like "Fare Thee Well," "500 Miles" and Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind." Isaac came to Washington D.C.

Kind of a Big Deal: Anchorman Gets Newseum Exhibit

When Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues opens Dec. 20, Ron Burgundy’s news prowess won’t be the only thing on display. So too will a whole new batch of period attire, newsroom props, and—if we’re lucky—maybe another pair of burgundy briefs.

Some of those props will simultaneously be on display at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., where an Anchorman exhibit opens today with a prominent, mysterious feature: A black false wall that reads,

Thor’s Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on Playing the Villain

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was born in London, the son of Nigerian immigrants.  He has a law degree and speaks four languages, but his intensity, deep voice and powerful 6'2" physique have him cast most often as a bad guy, from a fierce prisoner in HBO’s Oz to Heavy Duty in G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. On ABC’s megahit Lost, Akinnuoye-Agbaje played the conflicted, beguiling Mr. Eko, who quickly became a fan favorite.

Brothers in Arms: Chris Hemsworth & Tom Hiddleston Talk Thor: The Dark World

For the last time, do not—repeat—do not leave the theater before the end credits are done scrolling in Marvel’s newest epic Thor: The Dark World. As any fan knows, Marvel has nearly created its own cottage industry of mid- and post-credit scenes that reward the patient moviegoer (shawarma ring a bell?) That being said, stay put till the lights come on, because this film is filled with enough action to have you white-knuckling the back of the seat in front of you—especially because of Thor and Loki’s shared plight—for most of its two hours.

The Many Moving Parts to The LEGO Movie

The toys and games of our youth have long been fodder for filmmakers. There have been six films (all direct-to-video, it should be noted) made from Mattel’s ‘American Girls’ line. Dungeons & Dragons was made into a feature film in 2000 and starred Oscar winning actor Jeremy Irons. G.I. Joe has been called into duty twice, in 2009 and just this year, in monster big budget spectacles. Transformers have been clanging their multi-purpose parts together since 2007 in three films,

Warner Bros. Recruits World’s Greatest Pickpocket, Apollo Robbins, for Will Smith Film

In 2001, the Gentlemen Thief, Apollo Robbins, was performing at a show at Caesar’s Palace, in Las Vegas. He was told former President Jimmy Carter was coming to the show, but, owing to Robbins profession, he wasn’t allowed to shake Carter’s hand. Instead, Robbins chatted up his Secret Service men. A few minutes later, he held up a copy of Carter’s itinerary, which an agent snatched from him and said, “You don’t have the authorization to see that!”

Breaking Down Rom-Com Master Richard Curtis’s About Time

Richard Curtis wrote three of the most beloved romantic comedies of the mid 90s and early 2000s—in a remarkable string, he penned Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones Diary (which he co-wrote with Helen Fielding and Andrew Davies). His directorial debut in 2003, Love Actually, which he also wrote, was an international success and helped create cross-pond love for fantastic actors like Bill Nighy, Chiwetel Ejiofor (now poised for an Oscar nomination for his starring role in 12 Years a Slave),

Directing Diana: Oliver Hirschbigel On His Princess Di Film

German director Oliver Hirschbiegel is no stranger to controversy. His 2004 Oscar-nominated film Downfall triggered rancor in the German press for its complex, humanistic depiction of Adolph Hitler, played by Bruno Ganz. Now Hirschbiegel faces another firestorm in Great Britain for Diana, a portrait of another larger- than-life figure: Diana, Princess of Wales, played by Naomi Watts. The British press has been vitriolic towards the film, which is based on the book “Diana: Her Last Love”

Daredevil King Johnny Knoxville & Six Other Fearless Actors

Blunt force trauma—this is both a medical term and a description of Johnny Knoxville’s Jackass-related career. He’s been concussed multiple times (once via a bull), torn his urethra (attempting to backflip a motorcycle, the less you read about the particulars the better), had bone chips removed from his elbow (and probably needs further surgery on it), thrown out his back (he told he Dave Kitzkoff of The New York Times he’s not even sure how),

Janty Yates on Dressing Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender & the Cast of The Counselor

Academy Award winning costume designer Janty Yates is a fashion time traveler. In her last 12 films (eight of which were with director Ridley Scott), Yates has designed clothes (and armor, and flight suits, and period piece suits, and…) for characters in ancient Rome (Gladiator, which earned her an Oscar), World War II era Europe (Charlotte Gray), 12th century Jerusalem (Kingdom of Heaven), 1970s New York (American Gangster),

A Bloody Good Job: Carrie’s Makeup Maestro Jordan Samuel

Makeup department head Jordan Samuel had quite a task in front of him when he joined director Kimberly Peirce and the filmmaking team behind Carrie. "Truthfully, blood itself is one of the most difficult things for a makeup artist," Samuel says, "and the more there is the more difficult it is."

Now, add to the amount of blood Samuel would be working with in Carrie to the fact that he was a major part of making sure they could pull of recreating one of the most iconic scenes in horror film history,

Gravity Shines Light on Future of 3D Filmmaking

How do you create a 3D film that’s truly worth the price of admission? If one lesson can be taken from James Cameron’s Avatar, Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, and Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity, it’s that the extra dimension has to be crucial to the narrative itself. It’s not enough to wow people—you need a good story reason for the technology, which all of the above directors had in spades.

3D Serving the Story

Cuarón’s masterpiece took place in space,