What's Their Name - Frequent Coen Brothers Colloborators

Blood Simple the blistering debut from the Coen Brothers recently celebrated its 25th birthday.  I'm currently working on a large piece about the duo and a ranking of their movies and performances, until then I wanted to highlight several frequent actors and actresses the two work with frequently.  Like most directors the Coens have a troupe of actors they like to work with.  This list has evolved throughout their career, at the moment they are using a different set of actors than 15-20 years ago.  Richard Jenkins, J.K, Simmons and now Josh Brolin seem to be favorites of the two.

Frances McDormand - 7 films


Given that she is married to Joel it shouldn't be too surprising the Coens prefer to use her.  McDormand was the first actor to win an Oscar in a Coen Brothers movie as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, her most iconic role.    Since then the Coens have used her sparingly, next in 2001's The Man Who Wasn't There and not again until 2008's Burn After Reading, one of her more under-appreciated roles.

1985 - Blood Simple
1987 - Raising Arizona
1990 - Miller's Crossing
1991 - Barton Fink
1996 - Fargo
2001 - The Man Who Wasn't There
2008 - Burn After Reading


Jon Polito - 5 Films


An odd looking guy to be sure, Jon Polito is always reliable in Coen films, especially his terrific Coen debut as Johnny Casper in Miller's Crossing or his awkward cluelessness as a low rent PI in The Big Lebowski.  The Coens havn't used Polito in some time as he focuses mostly on tv appearances.  Hopefully the Coens will find another rule that Polito is just right for sometime soon.


1990 - Miller's Crossing
1991 - Barton Fink
1994 - The Hudsucker Proxy
1998 - The Big Lebowski
2001 - The Man Who Wasn't There


Richard Jenkins - 3 Films


A character actor that blends into his Coen Brothers roles as much as he does his other roles.  Jenkins is not immediately thought of as a Coen Brother staple, but his turn in Burn After Reading as a gym manager proved Jenkins to be one of the Coens finest actors.

2001 - The Man Who Wasn't There
2003 - Intolerable Cruelity
2008 - Burn After Reading


John Turturro - 4 Films


Another actor who always nails his Coen roles.  His performance as Bernie in Miller's Crossing is among the finest in a Coen movie, and despite limited screentime in Big Lebowski, The Jesus stands out as a great character among a movie full of them.

1990 - Miller's Crossing
1991 - Barton Fink
1998 - The Big Lebowski
2000 - O, Brother Where Art Thou


Of course John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and George Clooney are Coen staples, not to mention Holly Hunter.  Jeff Bridges is back for a second Coen movie in this True Grit late this year.  There a whole host of others, the so-called family tree only helps to add to their movies.  When all is said and done, aside from their quirkiness these actor and actresses will be a large part of the Coen legacy.

What's His Name? - David Morse

David Morse has remained one of the more reliable character actors of the last twenty years.  Like many character actors he sometimes get typecast, but his roles never stick out like a sore thumb.  Morse was one of the many actors on the 80's hit St. Elsewhere, since then he has taken on a large number of supporting roles in notable movies.  The most notable of these was as a prison guard in Frank Darabont's  The Green Mile.  Morse was given a chance to headline a tv drama again several years ago with the CBS show Hack, which lasted all of two seasons.  Morse has also recently been seen in short guest stint on House.  Most recently David Morse was one of three notable cameos in Oscar front runner The Hurt Locker, a role that seemed well suited to his subtle intensity he brings to many of his roles.  Other notable roles below:

The Rock (1996)


The first role I saw Morse in was Michael Bay's The Rock.  I first caught this as an impressionable 8th grader in the late 90's, and while I still maintain it is one of Bay's better movies the movie has lost a bit of its esteem.  Still Morse works really well here as one of Ed Harris' top soldiers who takes over Alcatraz.  Morse always works well as a military guy or cop with a bit of a dirty side and here is not exception.  Morse's character stays loyal to Harris in the end something he seems to deem more important than their mission at hand.

The Negotiator (1998)


Another action/hostage movie that Morse appeared in, this time as a cop.  In my opinion this is one of the more underrated action movies of the 90's, while it runs a little long the performances really help drive the movie.  Aside from Jackson and Spacey, Morse's performance helps keep the tension high on the ground as well.

16 Blocks (2006)


I suppose this movie is a guilty pleasure of mine, where David Morse again plays a cop.  This time Morse is corrupt and is out to kill the witness that Bruce Willis needs to transport to court to testify against several officers.  Morse works well as a villain without having to resort to chewing the scenery.

Other notable movies:

The Crossing Guard - (1995)
12 Monkeys - (1995)
Contact - (1997)
Dancer in the Dark - (2000)
Distrubia - (2007)