Something that often happens in Hollywood is that actors will take roles based on who their co-stars are. But sometimes, actors will become so close and at the same time be extremely successful together, and audiences will see them as completely inseparable.
It can go so far as those very actors not being as successful without their partners in crime, leading them to work with each other on several occasions even if their on-screen dynamic doesn’t translate as well off-screen. Whether it’s comedy actors, dramatic Oscar nominated stars, or action heroes, there are so many acting duos whose careers go hand in hand.
Dwayne Johnson And Kevin Hart
Together, these stars can turnover billions, as the comedian and former wrestler have found an unlikely partnership based on them constantly busting each other’s chops.
The first movie the two starred in together was 2016’s Central Intelligence, and it was quickly followed by the Jumanji reboot. Their most recent collab was Jumanji: The Next Level, and though there are a lot of things that don’t make sense about the movie, it was a huge box office success, making just over $800 million worldwide.
Martin Freeman And Benedict Cumberbatch
After amazing audiences with their bromance in the BBC’s Sherlock, playing the classic characters Holmes and Watson, the duo went from being a team to enemies as they battled against each other in the Hobbit trilogy.
Martin Freeman played the titular character and Benedict Cumberbatch played Smaug, a dragon and the main antagonist of the series. Not only that, but they both have roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe together, and though they haven’t had any scenes together yet, the MCU reuniting Holmes and Watson is inevitable.
Ryan Gosling And Emma Stone
Beginning with Crazy Stupid Love, which is one of the best rom-coms of the past 10 years, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone immediately shined together on screen and chemistry was oozing out of every scene.
The duo unsurprisingly capitalized on this by starring in many more movies together over the 2010s, including the tepidly received Gangster Squad. But their biggest success came with the release of La La Land, one of the most wholesome movies of the decade that made close to half a billion dollars.
Adam Sandler And Drew Barrymore
Starting in 1998 with the comedy The Wedding Singer, Drew Barrymore has been co-starring in Adam Sandler comedies as his love interest over the course of three decades now.
The pair followed up Wedding Singer with 2004’s 50 First Dates, and then 2014’s Blended, and though people are still arguing over which is better, the fact is that they were all massive box office hits.
Will Ferrell And John C. Reilly
Arguably the funniest comedy duo of modern times, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly had a hot streak in the 2000s, as they starred together in the massively underrated NASCAR comedy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and then the smash hit, Step Brothers.
Reilly has had an uncredited cameo in the Anchorman sequel, and most recently, the duo starred in the Sherlock Holmes parody movie, Holmes & Watson.
Bradley Cooper And Jennifer Lawrence
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence have become critical darlings, as everything they work on together is seemingly nominated for a ton of Academy awards and Golden Globes.
However, there is a secret third partner to the actors’ joint success, as all the movies they’ve starred in together are director David O. Russell movies. Together, they’ve starred in Joy, Silver Linings Playbook, and most successfully, American Hustle, the 1970s-based gangster movie.
Vince Vaughan And Jon Favreau
Before Jon Favreau worked exclusively for Disney directing Iron Man movies, remakes of classics, and steering the Mandolorian ship, he was busy making Pulp Fiction knock offs.
Swingers and Made both star Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, but their collaborations don’t end there, as they have starred in five movies together, including the 2000s rom-coms The Break Up and Couples Retreat, and the 1993 biographical sports movie, Rudy.
Al Pacino And Robert De Niro
With most of their movie collaborations being some of cinema’s greatest on-screen feuds, whenever Al Pacino and Robert De Niro star together it’s always exciting.
The duo first appeared on screen together in Michael Mann’s Heat, arguably the greatest heist movie of all time, and they followed up 13 years later with Righteous Kill, and then, of course, Martin Scorsese’s magnum opus, The Irishman. They even starred together in The Godfather Part II, but they never actually shared any scenes.
Seth Rogen And James Franco
The amount of times this comedy duo have appeared on-screen together is almost countless, as even when they aren’t starring together, they still frequently pop up in each other’s projects.
Starting with the TV show Freaks And Geeks, the two pranksters have gone on to feature in seven movies together, most notably in a ton of Judd Apatow productions and the post-apocalyptic comedy This Is The End, which features a ton of amazing cameos.
Robert De Niro And Joe Pesci
Al Pacino isn’t the only major collaborator of De Niro’s, as Joe Pesci and De Niro went hand in hand in the eighties and all the way through to present day.
And just like how David O. Russell is the secret to Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper’s success, Martin Scorsese is largely to thank for putting these two heavyweights on screen together. Scorsese directed them in Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, and The Irishman. The two have starred together at total of six movies.