Together Forever and Never to Part: Filmmakers and Their Muses

Filmmakers and Muses

Penelope Cruz and Pedro Almodovar
Films: 'Live Flesh' (1997), 'All About My Mother' (1999), 'Volver' (2006) and 'Broken Embraces' (2009)
Love Story: Pedro Almodovar says of his muse: "She has this passion that she breathes out of every pore, that element of cheekiness, which is really suited to my films."

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Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorsese
Films: 'Mean Streets' (1972), 'Taxi Driver' (1976), 'New York, New York' (1977), 'Raging Bull' (1980), 'The King of Comedy' (1982), 'Goodfellas' (1990), 'Cape Fear' (1991), 'Casino' (1995)
Love Story: The actor and director were first introduced in the early 1970s by filmmaker Brian De Palma. Ten years into their friendship, Scorsese says De Niro saved his life when he persuaded the filmmaker to quit cocaine to make 'Raging Bull,' considered his greatest film.

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Scarlett Johansson and Woody Allen
Films: 'Match Point' (2005), 'Scoop' (2006), 'Vicky Christina Barcelona' (2008)
Love Story: Though both parties deny that Johansson is Allen's muse, it is clear that they enjoy working with one another. "Woody and I both appreciate how wonderful it is to work with your friends, and it's fun and we always have a great time when we do it, we entertain each other, we understand each other and we poke each other," Johansson says.

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Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow
Films:'The 40 Year Old Virgin' (2005), 'Knocked Up' (2007), 'Funny People' (2009)
Love Story: Rogen landed a role in Apatow's TV show "Freaks and Geeks" when he was just a teenager. Apatow was impressed by Rogen's improvisational skills, which he had honed as a young standup comic in LA. Rogen and Apatow continued to work together with Rogen acting and later writing for his mentor, who eventually guided him into film.

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Uma Thurman and Quentin Tarantino
Films: 'Pulp Fiction,' (1994), 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' (2003), 'Kill Bill: Vol. 2' (2004)
Love Story: Tarantino himself has referred to Thurman as his muse. The duo created the character of The Bride together during their first collaboration on 'Pulp Fiction.'

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Johnny Depp and Tim Burton
Films: 'Edward Scissorhands' (1990), 'Ed Wood' (1994), 'Sleepy Hollow' (1999), 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (2005), 'Corpse Bride,' (2005), 'Sweeney Todd' (2007), 'Alice in Wonderland' (2010)
Love Story: After working together for almost two decades, Depp is a godfather of Burton's son. In Burton on Burton, Depp said, "What more can I say about him? He is a brother, a friend, my godson's father. He is a unique and brave soul, someone that I would go to the ends of the earth for, and I know, full and well, he would do the same for me."

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George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh
Films:'Out of Sight' (1998), 'Ocean's Eleven' (2001 ), 'Solaris' (2002), 'Ocean's Twelve' (2004), 'The Good German' (2006), 'Ocean's Thirteen' (2007)
Love Story: In 2000, Soderbergh and Clooney founded Section Eight, a production company. Citing the need to focus on filmmaking and less on development, Soderbergh decided to leave the company in 2006, and Clooney left to launch Smoke House, another production company. The two are still very close friends, and it's rumoured that Soderbergh "keeps and eye out" for Clooney, whatever that means.

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Isabelle Huppert Claude Chabrol
Films: 'Violette Noziere' (1978) 'Story of Women' (1988), 'Madame Bovary' (1991), 'La Ceremonie' (1995), 'Nightcap' (2000), 'Comedy of Power' (2006)
Love Story: Huppert's quiet strength compliments perfectly Chabrol's subtle new wave direction., particularly in his thrillers.

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Brad Pitt and David Fincher
FIlms: 'Se7en' (1995), 'Fight Club' (1999), 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' (2008)
Love Story: On the set of their first collaboration, Fincher found a supporter in Pitt. The chairman of New Line refused to Fincher to film the climax of the film until Pitt said that he would not be involved with the picture if its ending were changed. Fincher eventually filmed the scene and used it in the final cut.

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Hugh Grant and Richard Curtis
Films: 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' (1994), 'Notting Hill' (1999), 'Bridget Jones's Diary' (2001), 'Love Actually' (2003)
Love Story: At 32, Grant was about to give up acting when he read Curtis's 'Four Weddings and a Funeral.' "If you read as many bad scripts as I did, you'd know how grateful you are when you come across one where the guy actually is funny," he said. The duo have worked together steadily since 1994.

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