Wes Anderson is known for his repertoire of actors, and he’s used one notable collaborator in 10 of his 11 movies. His writing and direction clearly has a positive effect on his actors, as nearly all of the major players have starred in at least three of his movies. His early recurring collaborators were the Wilson brothers, particularly Luke and Owen Wilson at the beginning of their careers. Now a veteran in his own right, Anderson has worked with big established names like Oscar-winning Frances McDormand, Angelica Huston, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, and Timothee Chalamet.
Anderson is currently making his 11th movie, an untitled feature, after 25 years in the business originating with his humble beginnings of the independent crime film Bottle Rocket. A few years later, Anderson released the critically-acclaimed The Royal Tenenbaums, which launched him into major success in Hollywood and access to big names. One reason actors continue to star in Wes Anderson movies may be because they know they’ll have the opportunity to be brought back for future gigs. Since Bottle Rocket, Owen Wilson has starred in 8 of his movies, Coppola family member Jason Schwartzman in 8, Angelica Huston in 5, and one major actor has been featured in all but one of Anderson’s films.
The actor who has been featured in the most Wes Anderson movies, with a running total of 10, is none other than Oscar-nominated comedian Bill Murray. Anderson recruited him to star in his second feature film Rushmore, where he played a disillusioned parent at Jason Schwartzman’s character’s high school. According to Collider, the only movie of Anderson’s that Murray hasn’t seen is Bottle Rocket, which happens to be the only one he’s not in. After Rushmore, Murray never stopped collaborating with Anderson, having been featured in every single movie since. His next appearance was in the 2001 Oscar-nominated film The Royal Tenenbaums, where he played the neurologist husband of Gwyneth Paltrow’s character. For their next collaboration, Murray was put in the central role as the title oceanographer in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. His last featured role in Anderson’s work was in the coming-of-age drama Moonrise Kingdom, in which he played the father of Suzy Bishop.
The rest of Bill Murray’s appearances in Wes Anderson’s movies have been either cameo-like or on a smaller note. He voiced supporting characters in the animated films Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs, while hardly having speaking roles in the Academy-Award winning The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Darjeeling Limited. After taking smaller roles in most of Anderson’s films since Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Murray is back in a significant main role for the star-studded 2021 movie The French Dispatch—in theaters October 22. Murray’s role in The French Dispatch is based on Harold Ross, co-founder of The New Yorker, with the film primarily paying homage to old-school journalism and The New Yorker publication in particular.
Even before The French Dispatch premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, it was announced Wes Anderson would begin production on an upcoming so-far untitled film shooting in Spain. It doesn’t look like Bill Murray will be losing his title as the director's most frequent collaborator anytime soon. Murray has been announced for the upcoming rumored romance project in an undisclosed role, marking his 10th movie with Anderson. As of now, Bill Murray and Wes Anderson are amongst the most notable director-actor duos like Martin Scorsese and Robert de Niro, Burton and Depp, and the Coen brothers and McDormand, with no end in sight.
