Directors and Their Favorite Actors Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Alfred Hitchcock once said "I never said all actors are cattle; what I said was all actors should be TREATED like cattle". But he did have a soft spot for some of his cows--who starred in Hitch's "Suspicion", "Notorious", "To Catch a Thief" and "North by Northwest"?

Answer: Cary Grant

Hitchcock said of Grant that he was "the only actor I ever loved in my whole life". Grant played Johnnie Aysgarth in 1941's "Suspicion", government agent T. R. Devlin in 1946's "Notorious", master burglar John Robie in 1955's "To Catch a Thief", and confused ad-man Roger O. Thornhill in 1959's "North by Northwest".

2. Director Akira Kurosawa had this to say about his frequent collaborator: "He put forth everything directly and boldly, and his sense of timing was the keenest I had ever seen in a Japanese actor". Who was the star of Kurosawa's "Rashomon", "Seven Samurai", "Throne of Blood" and "Yojimbo"?

Answer: Toshir� Mifune

Mifune starred in sixteen films for Kurosawa, and most of them are brilliant. The two had a falling-out after 1965's "Red Beard", and they never worked together again, though they did come to a kind of reconciliation with each other in 1993. "I am proud of nothing I have done other than with him (Kurosawa)", Mifune once said of his frequent director.

3. Woody Allen had a romantic relationship with this woman for a short time, but a much longer creative relationship--she acted for him in "Sleeper", "Play It Again, Sam", "Love and Death", "Manhattan" and "Annie Hall" (for which she won the Best Actress Oscar in 1978). Who is she?

Answer: Diane Keaton

Keaton had this to say about her director (who once referred to her as his muse): "Of course I recognized myself in the roles [Woody Allen] wrote. I mean, in Annie Hall particularly. I was this sort of novice who had lots of feelings but didn't know how to express herself, and I see that in Annie. I think Woody used a kind of essential quality that he found in me at that time, and I'm glad he did because it worked really well in the movie."

4. Tim Burton, the wunderkind director of 1985's "Pee-wee's Big Adventure", has used one particular actor repeatedly over his career, and with wonderful results. Who starred in "Edward Scissorhands", "Sleepy Hollow", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Ed Wood"?

Answer: Johnny Depp

Depp also starred in 2007's "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street". Depp once said this of Burton: "I would do anything Tim wanted me to. You know - have sex with an aardvark... I would do it." And Burton on Depp: "Each time I've worked with Johnny, he's something different.

He's interested in being a character and not necessarily interested in his persona, and I find it very exciting to work with actors like that. He's really willing to take risks that don't have to do with image or money. And each time is just different and better.

It's great to find people like that you can communicate with on an almost subconscious level."

5. John Waters had a favorite actor--or actress--whom he used in "Mondo Trasho", "Multiple Maniacs", "Pink Flamingos", "Polyester" and "Hairspray". Who was this huge talent?

Answer: Divine

Divine was the drag name of Harris Glenn Milstead, a Baltimore native who met John Waters in high school and later had roles in many of his movies. In Waters' "Hairspray" and "Female Trouble", Milstead performed in both male and female roles. He died at age 42 of an enlarged heart, but he still holds a place in many fans' memories--there have been documentaries about him and several biographies written since his death.

He once said "Of course the last thing my parents wanted was a son who wears a cocktail dress that glitters, but they've come around to it."

6. Director Werner Herzog and his longtime collaborator had a fiery relationship; during the shooting of "Fitzcarraldo", the actor threatened to storm off the set. In response, Herzog said that if he tried, the director would shoot him. He ended up not leaving. Who was this actor?

Answer: Klaus Kinski

In addition to "Fitzcarraldo", Kinski starred in Herzog's "Aguirre: The Wrath of God", "Woyzeck", "Nosferatu the Vampyre" and "Cobra Verde". The two men had a very stormy relationship--Kinski once said "I have to shoot without any breaks. I yell at Herzog and hit him. I have to fight for every sequence. I wish Herzog would catch the plague, more than ever." And Herzog said "People think we had a love-hate relationship. Well, I did not love him, nor did I hate him. We had mutual respect for each other, even as we both planned each other's murder".

7. John Cassavetes made ten films featuring his wife, between 1963 and 1989 (when he died). About her, he said "(she) and I are freaks. We are. We're absolutely freakishly obsessed with wanting to convey something that is very hard for us to express in our life. To dig deeply into the way things are, through people, is what I like and what the people who work with me like also. To find out the delicate balance between living and dying. I mean, I think that's the only subject there is." Who was Cassavetes' wife and collaborator in "Gloria"?

Answer: Gena Rowlands

Rowlands was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1980's "Gloria", and she also featured in "A Woman Under the Influence", "Opening Night", "Faces" and "Love Streams". About Cassavetes, Rowlands said "We had a great deal of freedom when John acted. We traveled a lot and it was fun.

But with directing ... really. I think people don't have all their marbles who prefer directing to acting because you write for three months, you cut for maybe six months. He's the most terrifying perfectionist about what he wants.

As an artist, I love him. As a husband, I hate him".

8. Joel and Ethan Coen tend to use the same actors and actresses a lot, but one collaborator has become a particular favorite: who is the fella who played "Big Dan" Teague (the cyclops) in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and Walter Sobchak in "The Big Lebowski"?

Answer: John Goodman

Goodman also featured in "The Hudsucker Proxy", "Raising Arizona" and "Barton Fink". Here's Goodman on how he began working with the Coens: "I flew into New York for the "Raising Arizona" audition, and we just started joking around. I started going through their r�sum� pile, looking at actors, and just kinda made myself at home in my obnoxious way. I think they cast me because I had a baby face and that was a motif of the film."

9. Swedish director Ingmar Bergman was another director who used certain actors repeatedly (Liv Ullman, Gunnar Bj�rnstrand and Bibi Andersson were three). But who is the Bergman protege who starred as the Knight in "The Seventh Seal" and had a role as Henrik �kerman in "Wild Strawberries"?

Answer: Max von Sydow

Von Sydow had this to say about Bergman: "We're friends. We've worked together so much, both on the stage and in films. We did most of that work when we were much younger. We were free; he hadn't yet become world famous and I was just a regular stage actor with a few film roles to my credit. We worked hard and had a lot of fun. I can't say exactly what influence he's had on me, but it must be enormous." The two worked together on "The Virgin Spring", "The Magician" and many other stage and screen projects.

10. Martin Scorcese has cast Leonardo DiCaprio in at least six movies, but he had a previous collaboration with another actor that resulted in some of the best films and best performances in American cinema history. Who played Rupert Pupkin, Travis Bickle, Jake La Motta and Max Cady?

Answer: Robert De Niro

In addition to "The King of Comedy", "Taxi Driver", "Raging Bull" and "Cape Fear", De Niro also appeared in Scorcese's "Goodfellas", "Casino", "New York, New York" and "Mean Streets". About his frequent collaborator, De Niro has said "Marty Scorsese listens.

He's open to unexpected things on that -- this is a flowery way of saying it -- on that voyage. He takes ideas, and he's not afraid to try them". Scorcese said "And even now I still know of nobody who can surprise me on the screen the way he does -- and did then. No actor comes to mind who can provide such power and excitement" about De Niro

Source: Author john_sunseri

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor skunkee before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Some film directors have wonderful relationships with certain actors--so much so that they cast them again and again and again... I'll give you clues and roles, and you name the actor. Good luck!

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