Bursting onto the scene with 1996’s acclaimed crime-comedyBottle Rocket,Wes Andersonhas collaborated with certain actors several times, with some names having appeared in more than 10 of his movies. Renowned for his inimitably distinctive visual style,Anderson’s best moviesinclude the lauded likes ofThe Royal Tenenbaums,The Grand Budapest Hotel, andMoonrise Kingdomin a career that has seen the director’s work receive an impressive total of 16 Oscar nominations across various categories since 2001.
A frequent collaborator with a host of well-known stars, the American director is notorious for casting a selection of the same actors throughout his movies.Anderson’s creative partnership with Bill Murrayis arguably his most high-profile and long-running collaboration to date, but theGhostbustersstar is far from the only Hollywood big-hitter that Anderson has called upon on multiple occasions throughout his career. A veritable who’s-who of prominent A-listers,the actors with the most appearances in Wes Anderson’s movieshave given some of their career’s best performances in his films.
10Jeff Goldblum
4 Movies - The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle Of Dogs, & Asteroid City
Appearing in some ofcinema’s highest-grossing movies,Jurassic Parkstar Jeff Goldblum’s creative partnership with Wes Anderson dates back to 2004’s cult classicThe Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The sci-fi icon’s first appearance in one of the director’s movies saw him charged with the role of Alistair Hennessey, nemesis to Bill Murray’s eponymous protagonist.
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It would be a decade before the pair worked together again, but Goldblum soon made up for lost time by appearing in three of Anderson’s movies in the span of nine years. Beginning with a role in 2014’s acclaimed outing,The Grand Budapest Hotel, the actor would follow up his bow as the ill-fated Deputy Kovacs with a voice-over role in 2018’sIsle of Dogsand a brief appearance as an alien in 2023’sAsteroid City.
9Edward Norton
5 Movies - Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle Of Dogs, The French Dispatch, & Asteroid City
The star of movies such asFight Club,American History X, andBirdman, multiple-time Academy Award nomineeEdward Norton numbers among Wes Anderson’s most critically acclaimed collaborators.Turning in a well-received performance as Scout Master Randy Ward in 2012’s lauded coming-of-age drama,Moonrise Kingdom, Norton has subsequently gone on to appear in four more Anderson productions to take his tally of appearances to five.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Best Supporting Actor
TBD
Invariably forming part of Anderson’s array of impressive ensemble casts, some ofEdward Norton’s best moviesinclude roles of varying prominence in the likes ofThe Grand Budapest Hotel,Isle of Dogs, andThe French Dispatchbetween 2014 and 2021. The American’s latest bow in one of the director’s films came as the ill-fated playwright Conrad Earp against the backdrop of the 2023 sci-fi comedy-dramaAsteroid City.
8Anjelica Huston
5 Movies - The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Isle Of Dogs, & The French Dispatch
A staple of cinema for more than half a century since debuting with 1969’sA Walk with Love and Death, Anjelica Huston has collaborated with Wes Anderson on five occasions. Starring as Etheline Tenenbaum in 2001’sThe Royal Tenenbaums,Huston’s first Anderson movie is regarded by many die-hard fans as the director’s masterpiece. She also starred as Eleanor Zissou, the estranged wife of Billy Murray’s titularcharacter inThe Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
Huston has not featured in a major role since her bow in the 2004 adventure comedy-dramabut has continued to work with Anderson in a somewhat reduced capacity.The Oscar-winning actress appeared in 2007’sThe Darjeeling Limitedand boasts a tongue-in-cheek credit for 2018’sIsle of Dogsto complement her more substantial bows under the Anderson banner. Huston was most recently featured as the narrator during theObituarysegment of 2021’sThe French Dispatch.
7Tilda Swinton
Credited with appearances in five different Wes Anderson movies between 2012 and 2023, acclaimed British actressTilda Swinton has starred in the same quintet of the director’s films as her fellow Anderson stalwarts, Edward Norton and Bob Balaban.A mainstay of popular culture who has worked with industry titans in the vein of Bong Joon-Ho, Luca Guadagnino, and the Coen brothers to name but a few, Swinton is one of the industry’s most recognizable and talented actors.
…Swinton is tied alongside four other actors as Anderson’s fourth-most-frequent collaborator as of 2025.
Starting with a role as a social services worker in 2012’sMoonrise Kingdom, Swinton’s most notable Anderson role is likely her bow as the writer J.K.L. Berensen, forming part of anensemble cast in 2021’sThe French Dispatch. However, with appearances inThe Grand Budapest Hotel,Isle of Dogs, andAsteroid Cityto round out her numbers, Swinton is tied alongside four other actors as Anderson’s fourth-most-frequent collaborator as of 2025.
6Bob Balaban
While he may have appeared in the same five Wes Anderson movies as Edward Norton and Tilda Swinton, Bob Balaban is probably not the first name that comes to mind in terms of frequent Anderson collaborators. The actor has been plying his trade since the 1970s, but Balaban’s most notable credit before his partnership with Anderson was arguably a supporting turn in 2005’s Best Picture nominee,Capote.
Beginning their collaboration with his most meaningful involvement to date, Balaban’s most significant role in an Anderson movie was his first appearance in 2012’sMoonrise Kingdom, playing the narrator against the backdrop of the director’s acclaimed coming-of-age tale. Since then, he’s featured in increasingly minor roles in four more of his films,with the actor’s most recent credit coming in the form of a cameo appearance in 2023’sAsteroid City.
5Adrien Brody
5 Movies - The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch, & Asteroid City
Thrust back into Hollywood’s spotlight off the back of his second Oscar-nominated bow for the 2024epic period dramaThe Brutalist, Adrien Brody remains the youngest performer to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, a record that has stood since he first took home the gold for his turn in 2002’sThe Pianist.The actor is also one of Wes Anderson’s most called-upon creative muses,appearing in five of his films in the space of little under sixteen years.
Best Actor
While Brody’s starring role as Peter Whitman in 2007’sThe Darjeeling Limitedsees his most prominent involvement and is likely his most high-profile Anderson credit to date, special mention must be reserved for the actor’s smarmy bow as the entitled villain, Dmitri Desgoffe-und-Taxis, in 2014’sThe Grand Budapest Hotel.Providing Brody with the opportunity to flex his comedic muscles in gleefully unrestrained fashion, Dmitri serves as a memorable antagonist for one of Anderson’s finest outings.
4Willem Dafoe
6 Movies - The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch, Asteroid City, & The Phoenician Scheme
Willem Dafoe’s diverse blend of mainstream and arthouse roles has earned the actor a reputation as one of popular culture’s most instantly recognizable and universally respected performers. Working with fellow cinematic auteurs in the vein of Robert Eggers and Lars von Trier on multiple occasions, Dafoe also lists Wes Anderson among his most high-profile collaborators.Appearing in five of the director’s movies to date,Dafoe is also slated to make his sixth bow in Anderson’s upcoming project, 2025’sThe Phoenician Scheme.
Having debuted as one ofAnderson’s best sidekick charactersin 2005’sThe Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Dafoe’s best role outside his sidesplitting take on Klaus Daimler is likely his bow as the sinister J.G. Jopling in 2014’sThe Grand Budapest Hotel. A complete departure from his first Anderson performance, Dafoe’s cartoonishly evil henchman is one of the movie’s unsung success stories.
3Owen Wilson
7 Movies - Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel, & The French Dispatch
While Wes Anderson is renowned for castingthe Wilson brothersthroughout his films, none of the trio of siblings have appeared in more of the director’s movies than middle child, Owen. Starring alongside his brothers Andrew and Luke, Owen made his first major film appearance in Anderson’s directorial debut, 1996’sBottle Rocket, and has never looked back, reuniting with the director on six more occasions across a span of nearly three decades.
Andrew and Luke Wilson appear together in Anderson’s first three movies;Bottle Rocket,Rushmore, andThe Royal Tenenbaums.
Before a hiatus that began with his last credit as Coach Skip in 2009’sFantastic Mr Fox,Wilson would star in every one of Anderson’s four movies from the 2000s,before a break that saw the duo put their long-running creative partnership on hold for five years. However, this wouldn’t last for long; theWedding Crashersstar would soon return to the fold with roles in 2014’sThe Grand Budapest Hoteland 2021’sThe French Dispatch.
2Jason Schwartzman
7 movies - Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch & Asteroid City
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Versestar Jason Schwartzman has been cast in numerous high-profile productions throughout his career, but the actor always finds his name inextricably linked with that of Wes Anderson. In sharp contrast to the supporting bows and minor cameos traditionally associated with many of the director’s collaborators,Schwartzman’s best moviesinclude major roles in no less than three of Anderson’s movies; 1998’sRushmore, 2007’sThe Darjeeling Limited, and 2023’sAsteroid City.
A member of the Coppola family on his mother’s side, Jason Schwartzman’s uncle is none other thanThe Godfatherdirector, Francis Ford Coppola, while his cousin isLonglegsstar, Nicolas Cage.
Boasting seven total appearances in the director’s movies across the course of a creative partnership that began with his own feature film debut,only one other actor has worked with Anderson on more occasions than Schwartzman.While he isn’t slated to star in 2025’s upcoming projectThe Phoenician Scheme, the likelihood of future films involving the pair appears to be a near certainty.
1Bill Murray
10 Movies - Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle Of Dogs, The French Dispatch, & The Phoenician Scheme
The actor who has appeared in the largest number of Wes Anderson movies by a considerable stretch,Groundhog Daystar Bill Murray is the director’s most called-upon creative muse by some distance. A partnership that began with Murray’s bow as Herman Blume in 1998’sRushmore, 2025’sThe Phoenician Schemewill mark the tenth occasion that Anderson has cast the American comedic icon in one of his pictures.
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Except for Anderson’s directorial debut,Bill Murray was in all but three of Wes Anderson’s films. This includes an incredible run of nine consecutive movie appearances, beginning with 1998’sRushmoreand continuing all the way to 2021’sThe French Dispatch. While Murray didn’t join the cast of 2023’sAsteroid Cityor 2024’sThe Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More, the actor’s looming return to the fold rubber-stamps his status as a performer who is virtually synonymous withWes Andersonat this point.
