How many times have we gone to the movies, seen a director's name and taken "wild" guesses at who would be starring ... and been absolutely right? Like artists from every century, film directors often look to individuals to inspire their creativity - their muses. In this column, Sassy Cinema explores the questions of who, why and to what end do directors hire their muses in multiple movies and varying roles.
It doesn't take a critical eye to see the connection between actors' recurring presence in certain directors' films. One of the biggest offenders is Tim Burton, and that's not necessarily a bad thing considering the quality of his films. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter have carried Burton's stylized and peculiar films for as long as Burton has had a career in Hollywood. And these two exceptional actors have co?starred in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (2007), "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005) and "Corpse Bride" (2005), to name a few varied cinematic styles.
Though Burton might flash on moviegoers' radars for hiring his repeat?offenders - we mean muses - he understandably isn't the only movie whiz to do so. Christopher Nolan, the infamous director of mind?"fondle" movies, has his own pool of actors he dips into for his productions. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon?Levitt represent his top?notch actors who jump at an opportunity to work with Nolan movie after movie. These five will appear in the highly anticipated finale to Nolan's Batman trilogy, "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012), and four were seen in "Inception" (2010), one of the highest?grossing movies of all time.
But what is it about actors that inspires a director's creativity? Why do directors cast the same actors in multiple films? For Burton, we'll take a guess and say that Depp and Carter's quirky sensibilities, unique look and natural skills at playing darker roles all contributed to Burton's affinity for casting them in musical, voice?over and dramatic acting roles that involve butchering people and making them into meat pies, along with some other lovely plotlines.
Nolan's situation is a bit different. We speculate that as film director and writer, Nolan found that some actors are more apt to acting his style of writing than others. This may seem preposterous to some. "How can some actors be better for different styles of writing than others?" Simple. A director wants the most authentic performance he can get out of an actor, and being able to identify with a style of writing makes authenticity more possible.
But there is one more answer we would like to give as to why directors have muses at all. Perhaps directors don't cast the same actors because they inspire them or because they fit their ideal vision of what a character ought to be. It's more practical than that. Directors cast these actors, not only because they enjoy working with them, but because they also feel that their muses will be a muse for the rest of the cast. Directors choose actors that not only inspire them but also inspire other actors to do their very best, because film, much like theater and other art forms, is collaborative.
One person can't carry a whole film - i.e. "The Iron Lady" (2011). A film finds its success through the partnership of an ensemble, the production crew and the director, with each part doing its best work. No man is an island unto himself. It takes some inspiration and a family to make a movie.
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Jacob Passy is a junior majoring in international relations. He can be reached at Jacob.Passy@tufts.edu. Alex Kaufman is a sophomore majoring in sociology. He can be reached at Alexander.Kaufman@tufts.edu.
