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Stephen is a Classic Movies writer at Screen Rant. Formerly a reporter for The Irish Independent and The Sligo Champion, he has also been published in other outlets such as the Sunday World, Connacht Tribune, and Knewz.com. With experience covering crime, human-interest, politics, and social justice movements, pop culture and entertainment always stood out as his favorite stories to pursue. Stephen also writes, produces, and presents his own music podcast series on Spotify called Sound Thinking, which explores off-beat or underrepresented genres. This podcast takes a deep dive into the careers of different artists and bands, such as Bob Dylan, David Bowie, and The Kinks.
Few filmmaker trios are more impressive than David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, and Christopher Nolan, as each has revolutionized and had a major influence on modern Hollywood. However, despite all three having worked with some of the best-known actors of all time, the one performer they have in common may surprise you.
What connects these three filmmakers isn’t just great movies, but an attraction to larger-than-life figures who blur the boundaries between different art forms. These directors have often pushed past conventional casting to draw in cultural icons whose influence extends well beyond feature films, and that’s exactly what happened each time they cast their lone shared actor.
Lynch, Nolan, And Scorsese Are Three Of The Most Distinctive Auteurs In Modern Cinema
When it comes to the most acclaimed filmmakers of the 20th and 21st centuries, it’s hard to argue with the status of David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, and Stanley Kubrick as titans of cinema. With unique sensibilities and undeniable style, these men had the credentials to work with practically anyone they wanted to.
Lynch may have been the most commercially evasive of them all, but that didn’t stop him from gathering an immersive roster of consistent stars, including Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern, and Naomi Watts. Through his trademark dreamlike style, actors were practically lining up to take part in his final project, Twin Peaks: The Return.
Today, Scorsese can put together a cast of anyone he chooses, but one of the reasons he’s become so acclaimed is that he’s always been a star-maker himself. As the man who made Robert De Niro a legend and gave Joe Pesci some of his greatest roles, Scorsese was working with Hollywood’s best years before he teamed up with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Nolan earned his reputation with hit film after hit film, including cult classics like Memento, which led him to revolutionize the superhero genre with The Dark Knight, before taking blockbusters to new heights with works such as Inception. This outstanding reputation saw him assemble one of his most jaw-dropping ensembles yet with his upcoming epic, The Odyssey.
Many Have Worked With Two Of These Directors, But Almost No One Boasts Movies With All Three
It’s no surprise that Lynch, Nolan, and Scorsese share plenty of actors in common, but there’s only one who managed to earn a credit with all three. DiCaprio has a long-standing creative partnership with Martin Scorsese and starred in Nolan’s Inception, but he has never worked with Lynch, as his divisive style was just a little too far outside the mainstream for Leo.
Acclaimed character actor Harry Dean Stanton feels like a likely candidate for roles with all three, but he’s primarily associated with Lynch through movies like Wild at Heart, The Straight Story, and Inland Empire, as well as appearing in Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. Having passed away at age 91 in 2017, Stanton never worked with Nolan.
Willem Dafoe is another performer whose cinematic persona could easily fit all three directors, as his incredible range saw him play both the terrifying villain Bobby Peru in Lynch’s Wild at Heart and Jesus in Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. There’s still time for Dafoe to pop up in a Nolan film, but it hasn’t happened yet.
David Bowie Is The Only Actor To Work With Lynch, Nolan, And Scorsese
It’s wild to think that David Bowie — the only person to work with all three of these acclaimed filmmakers — isn’t even primarily known as an actor. As a glam rock legend who changed the face of modern music forever, Bowie’s otherworldly persona and undeniable charisma made him uniquely positioned to traverse the cinematic worlds of Lynch, Nolan, and Scorsese.
The first collaboration came in 1988 when Bowie took on the role of Pontius Pilate, the man who condemns Christ to death, in Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. Bowie brought a level of gravitas that suited the character well, and Scorsese later revealed (via The Guardian) that he even beat his old pal Lou Reed for the role, who had also auditioned.
Then, in 1992, Bowie stepped into the dreamlike world of Lynch when he appeared as Phillip Jeffries in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. As a prequel to Lynch’s groundbreaking TV series, Bowie fit right in, with his erratic behavior and strange Southern accent feeling quintessentially Lynchian in its eccentric surrealism.
Jeffries’ role was expanded in Twin Peaks: The Return, where he reappeared as a white, glowing orb emanating from a large, kettle-shaped machine. Bowie was approached about reprising the part but couldn’t due to his declining health, and he sadly died before the show aired in 2017.
Bowie appeared as Nikola Tesla in Nolan’s The Prestige. Nolan was adamant that he needed someone “extraordinarily charismatic” and said Bowie “was really the only guy I had in mind to play Tesla” (via IGN). While Bowie initially turned down the role, Nolan flew to New York to pitch the part to him in person, and he eventually relented.
Ultimately, Bowie appealed to Lynch, Nolan, and Scorsese because he already felt larger than fiction. His innate mystique and cultural authority brought instant depth to any role, allowing him to slip seamlessly into worlds built on obsession, identity, and myth. Casting Bowie was no accident, as he brought the rare kind of presence these films demanded.
Sources: The Guardian, IGN
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