Familiar Faces: The Ridley Scott Players... do any exist?
Wednesday, October 7, 2015 at 11:00AM 
Ridley & Giannina on the red carpet last yearThe Film Experience recently had the chance to sit down with director Ridley Scott, currently enjoying one of the warmest receptions (great box office and reviews, of his career, for The Martian. We'll share that interview later in the season but here's one detail up for discussion right now that you won't get elsewhere.
We've always been fascinated at The Film Experience by the familiar faces that pop up in the filmographies of famous auteurs. The average moviegoer knows, for example, that De Niro and DiCaprio are Scorsese pets and that Tim Burton has trouble leaving his bed if it doesn't involve putting a camera and weird makeup and Johnny Depp. But do we really think of any particular faces when we think of Ridley Scott? His tightest collaborations are behind the scenes. The editor Pietro Scalia, and the production designer Arthur Max, both of whom he started working with on G.I. Jane (1997) have worked on most if not all of his films since that Demi Moore military pic. Costume Designer Janty Yates won an Oscar for their first collaboration on Gladiator and she's costumed nearly ever picture since. Ridley's cinematographer of choice at present is Darius Wolski who has shot every feature since Prometheus (2012) but he switches DPs from time to time. He switches casting directors even more regularly which could also contribute to the lack of "familiar faces" that we like to point out in this intermittent series of course.
I asked him about this in our interview and he quickly cited his most well known collaborations (Russell Crowe and Sigourney Weaver) but shrugged the lack of general repetition off, diplomatically, as a matter of timing. If he made smaller pictures, he explained, he'd jump at the chance to work with actors he enjoyed the first time around again. Before we switched topics he name-checked Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender as happy repeats. Perhaps as a result of the scarcity of examples, any repetition of actors in his filmography feels like something of a happy accident to we moviegoers rather than an intentional choice.
Let's look at Ridley's repeat actors after the jump... who would you like to see him work with again?
Maximus wife in Gladiator... is actually Ridley Scott's significant other
11 films
Giannina Facio (Gladiator, Hannibal, Black Hawk Down, Matchstick Men, Kingdom of Heaven, A Good Year, Body of Lies, Robin Hood, Prometheus, The Counsellor, and Exodus: Gods & Kings)
This Costa-Rican actress has the proximity casting advantage of being Ridley Scott's life partner. The filmmaker's previous two marriages ended in divorce. Giannina first pops up within his filmography in Gladiator as Maximus' ghostly wife. She's not in The Martian which is a bit of surprise because he usually finds a way to work her in - couldn't she have been manning one of the screens at NASA?
5 films
Russell Crowe (Gladiator, A Good Year, American Gangster, Body of Lies, Robin Hood)
As difficult as this is to process, given the number of classics under Ridley Scott's belt and the number of times he's been Oscar nominated for Best Director (three), Gladiator is actually the only one of his films to compete for Best Picture. It went to win and since it's also his biggest hit all things Gladiator are fused with Ridley Scott in the imagination. His director/muse relationship with Russell Crowe, though, is quite atypical of his career and continued on for a full decade after that global smash. A Good Year pops up in conversation with Ridley Scott fairly often so you can sense that it holds a special place for him, too.
3 films
Željko Ivanek (White Squall, Hannibal, Black Hawk Down)
This ubiquitous character actor, a Tony nominee and an Emmy winner (for Damages), was born in the former Yugoslavia but moved to the US when he was young. He's been steadily employed in showbiz since the early Eighties with over 100 projects in film, television, and on stage. I actually remember the first time I saw him act -- in 1984's stage-to-film adaptation Mass Appealmostly because it's LGBT topic (gay priests!) scandalized me as a young boy. But back to the Ridley Scott topic: Ivanek played Mason Verger's doctor in Hannibal and well as military men in White Squall and Black Hawk Down. (Supposedly he has it in contract that his name is spelled with a Ž rather than a Z in credits but IMDb didn't get this memo since they just use the standard American Z.)
clockwise from left: ALIEN (1979), 1492 (1992), EXODUS GODS AND KINGS (2014)
Sigourney Weaver (Alien, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Exodus)
Sigourney was the first actor (though not the last) that Ridley ever directed in their star-making role. We have them both to thank for Lt. Ellen Ripley which is actually quite a lot to be thankful for before you even get to their subsequent classics separately; Alien was just her third film and his second. It must have been a happy experience for both since every 17-20 or so years they make a movie together and Sigourney shows up looking all regal to play members of the ruling class. Ridley turns 78 this year and Sigweavie celebrates her 67th tomorrow. If they're both still making movies in 2030 (cross your fingers!) let's hope for one final collaboration.
2 films
Armand Assante (1492: Conquest of Paradise, American Gangster)
This New York born actor has rarely lacked for work over his long career but his roles aren't so high profile at 66 as they were in his forties. American Gangster (2007) was easily his most high profile gig since his heyday. In fact, 1992 may well have been his Hollywood peak as he was top billed in Mambo Kings (with "rising star" Antonio Banderas as his co-star) and second billed in Ridley Scott's epic 1492 behind Gerard Depardieu as Christopher Columbus.
Orlando Bloom (Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven)
Remember when he was in demand? Unpopular opinion but we're not scared of those: he got a 'bad actor' rap that he didn't deserve because of that inarguably ridiculous heaping of male beauty.
Ewen Bremner (Black Hawk Down, Exodus: Gods & Kings)
He's still probably best recognized as "Spud" from Trainspotting though he's been in two chaotically violent Ridley epics. I thought more people from Black Hawk Down would factor into this "familiar faces" roundup since EVERYONE is in that movie and several Ridley Scott movies have use for manly military types .. not that Ewen is "manly" in that traditional sense but you know what I mean. As it turns out only a handful of the Black Hawk Down vets ever returned. Bremner was also meant to be in the cast of Ridley Scott's scrapped Vatican project for Showtime so that would have been a third collaboration had Showtime not pulled the plug.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven)
A lot of actors from Game of Thrones have actually worked with Ridley Scott once. Is this coincidence or are the casting directors on Game of Thrones just big fans of Ridley's filmography or is it just that the type of casts Ridley's manly violent films require are not unlike what GoT needs? Pre-Game, Nikolaj was less incestuous/charismatic in smaller roles like a soldier in Black Hawk Down and the Village Sheriff in Kingdom of Heaven.
Chiwetel Ejiofor (American Gangster, The Martian)
Hollywood's favorite Nigerian-Brit has been patiently building quite a fine career with A list directors since he first appeared onscreen in Steven Spielberg's Amistad (1997). That included two pit stops in Ridley Scott's filmography, first as Denzel's brother in American Gangster and in The Martian's arguably second biggest role as NASA bigwig Vincent Kapoor who is desperate to save Matt Damon from starvation on Mars.
Idris Elba (American Gangster, Prometheus)
Hollywood's other favorite African-Brit had a terrific face/off with Denzel Washington's star wattage in American Gangster "you gonna shoot me in front of everybody?" and wasn't blown away the way his head was in that scene. A good sign that a huge future was ahead of him. Though he had had a recurring role on The Wire (and several British series then) this was near the start of his Hollywood stardom climb. He has been ascending steadily ever since. His part in Prometheus wasn't quite as satisfying but we can hope for a third collaboration.
Michael Fassbender (Prometheus, The Counsellor)
If Scott's Prometheus/Alien bridge movie actually happens -- they're calling it Alien: Paradise Lost at the moment - Fassbender will return as the synthetic David 8 which would boost him up into Sigourney-land for multiple Ridley Scott films.
Golshifteh Farahani (Body of Lies, Exodus: Gods & Kings)
She has scenes with DiCaprio in Body of Lies and plays the Anne Baxter role in Ridley Scott's ill-fated riff on The Ten Commandments, Exodus: Gods & Kings. ('Oh Moses/Ridley you adorable splendid fool.') You might also recognize this Iranian beauty from Asgar Farhadi's About Elly.
Albert Finney (The Duellists, A Good Year)
Finney, who had broken out big a decade earlier with Tom Jones, was the first big star Scott worked with in his career. Finney returned to Scott again thirty years later to play Uncle Henry to Russell Crowe in A Good Year.
Oscar Isaac (Body of Lies, Robin Hood)
This rising star is in great demand. But here's an interesting tidbit: Ridley Scott is to date, the only director he's worked for twice. That changes soon given that he's hooking himself to franchises now which repeat by working relationships by necessity of contract.
Harvey Keitel (The Duellists, Thelma & Louise)
Keitel was only Scorsese's other guy (the one who wasn't De Niro) when he signed on to Ridley Scott's debut feature The Duellists (1977). Hitching his star to prodigiously talented underknowns or blatant newbies would serve him very well in his career. He wasn't just risking his career on Scorsese from the beginning but also Ridley Scott and Quentin Tarantino (see: Reservoir Dogs) and he jumped in with early Jane Campion and Abel Ferrara, too, in roles that would have scared most actors away for their signature hits (The Piano and Bad Lieutenant respectively). Basically he's an auteur-lust actor and we love those actors most. Sadly Ridley Scott only used this gifted thespian once more in Thelma & Louise. [Strange Oscar statistic aside: Harvey Keitel has only ever received one Oscar nomination. That was for the year of Thelma & Louise and he totally deserv--- no no, not for Bugsy but for Thelma and Louise. What was the acting branch thinking? If he's Supporting Actor nominated this year for Youth, he could take the statue under the career tribute umbrella, don'cha think?]
Ghassan Massoud (Kingdom of Heaven, Exodus) The Syrian actor was a military leader in Kingdom of Heaven and also pops up in the Moses picture
Simon McBurney (Body of Lies, Robin Hood)
This British actor works less than you'd think. His face is just that familiar because it's a familiar kind of face and he has an innate gift of showing up in Oscar-bait projects (not all of them Oscar nominated) each year.
Brad Pitt (Thelma & Louise, The Counsellor)
We can't really blame Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis for not reuniting with Ridley Scott. Despite two "Strong Female Character" classics (Alien & Thelma & Louise), his filmography is otherwise not lady-centric and it would be impossible to top Thelma & Louise anyway. That said, isn't it a little weird that Ridley didn't claim ownership of Brad Pitt after his star broke on Thelma & Louise? Only one film together since despite so many projects with roles that would've been as well suited to Brad as anyone. We'll try not to read too much about the director's feelings into Pitt's ignoble super-gorey ending in The Counsellor.
Rafe Spall (A Good Year, Prometheus)
Ridley's worked with Rafe twice pre and post slim-down makeover. Pics from A Good Year are hard to come by but around the time of Prometheus Spall was working hard to transform perceptions and become a leading man. The leading man thing hasn't taken exactly but he's oft-employed which is close enough. He'll next be seen in the all star cast of The Big Short.
Mark Strong (Body of Lies, Robin Hood)
Does Strong really count? Isn't he in two projects of every filmmaker's resume since he works so damn much. We kid. We kid. He counts as Hani in Body of Lies and Godfrey in Robin Hood.
Special Cases (1+ projects)
Edward Fox (The Duellists) This acclaimed British thespian worked with Ridley on the British TV series "Mogul" in the late sixties before co-starring in his first feature film.
David Thewlis (Kingdom of Heaven) In addition to a small role in Ridley's epic he starred in Ridley's segment of the 7 directors omnibus film All the Invisible Children called "Jonathan" (2005)
P.S.
All of Ridley Scott's children have become directors: Jake (Welcome to the Rileys) & Luke (currently in preproduction on a first feature) appeared as children in The Duellists (1977, see still above) and his daughter Jordan debuted with the lesbian boarding room drama Cracks (2009) starring Eva Green.
Further Reading
Box Office The Martian's opening weekend
Podcast on the light spirit of The Martian
Familiar Faces repeat actors in the filmographies of Aronofsky and Allen
Reader Comments (14)
I always love features like this when you do them, Nathaniel. So fascinating to me.
I knew I'd see Oscar's name here! So fascinating that Ridley Scott cast him twice before he became a star. Also, I'd remembered that he cast Chiwetel when he was coming up, and he gave him what is probably the best role in The Martian. He has good taste (although I don't care for Crowe...).
Top 10 favourite Ridley Scott film performances?
will h-- me too which is why i do them. I wish more people cared!
I care!
That Harvey Keitel lone Oscar nom stat is crazy. When you mentioned it in an earlier post, I took a minute to try to guess the performance. I wasn't even close.
I was wondering if Ridley himself would fess up to his Fassbender love. LOVE.
Scott Free, Ridley's production company, has purchased the rights to the life story of Marco Pierre White AND the Harry Flashman novels, with Fassbender getting first dibs at both.
I really enjoyed this.
Couple of pedantic quibbles: You have a typo in the Janty Yates sentence - he's a she! And Russell Crowe is only in five Scott films - he's not in Kingdom of Heaven. (And how I wish he had been!)
While Scott has never been one of my absolute favourites, I always try to see his movies, and I usually enjoy them. I even liked Exodus: Gods and Kings. He can do spectacle like no one else. And sometimes he can do it so well, it is enough to detract from a meagre screenplay.
My faves are Gladiator, Thelma & Louise (I agree about Harvey Keitel - I really can't understand how he got his nomination for Bugsy instead) and I have a soft spot for A Good Year.
Edward -- thanks. i'm the editor but i need an editor. fixed just now.
"As difficult as this is to process, given the number of classics under Ridley Scott's belt and the number of times he's been Oscar nominated for Best Director (three), Gladiator is actually the only one of his films to compete for Best Picture"
Oohh, I wonder who has the biggest spread.
For the disaster that was Exodus, I give him a tiiiny bit of leeway for Oscar Isaac, who said that the biggest break in his career came when Scott, the same guy who hired him to be Background Actor of Color Who Quickly Dies in Body of Lies, immediately cast him as the king of England in the next movie. That was the first time I noticed Isaac in a movie (and took him as some fancy, white, Shakespeare-trained Brit actor). It's nice to have a rare example of "color-blindness" that actually works out in favor of an actor of color.
@caroline: nice remark.
I love those write-ups, Nathaniel. Good work !
I care too!
Ridley Scott's partner Giannina Facio actually first appears in White Squall. His daughter Jordan also appears in that picture as well, as a Danish schoolgirl, and she appears in Legend and 1492.