Film Makers Working with Spouses
Kaimi asked for a separate post on the danger of film makers working with their spouses. Just to keep it interesting let’s expand it to everyone: directors, writers, producers, or actors. What are your examples of disasters. Here are a few of mine.
Swept Away – Guy Ritchie and Madonna working together. Just bad all around.
Shanghai Surprise – Who can forget the train wreck that was Madonna and Sean Penn? As I recall it was not long after this that they divorced.
Bitter Moon – Roman Polanski and Emmanuelle Seigner. Reportedly Seigner nearly divorced Polanski over this movie. (Although they worked successfully together a few years earlier in the Harrison Ford flick Frantic)
Tess – Roman Polanski and Nastassja Kinski. Not because the movie was bad but just because — ick. What was it about Polanski and young girls? Reportedly they were hooking up when she was 15! I can’t respect the guy in the least. I could go off on a rant but I’ll save it.
The Fountain – Darren Aronofsky and Rachel Weisz. OK, probably not much to do with her being his wife. Still… (On the other hand some people liked it. It was nominated for a Golden Globe even.)
But to be fair here are the counter examples.
Sean Penn and Robin Wright. They made several movies together until the nearly inevitable Hollywood thing happened and they got divorced. (Edit: apparently the divorce papers didn’t take and they are still together)
Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw. OK, they weren’t an item I believe when Spielberg was filming Temple of Doom. But still.
Eyes Wide Shut–Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. That movie was a nightmare.
Comment by ESO — August 18, 2008 @ 6:58 pm
Pretty good example list, Clark.
On the flip side, one example that occurred to me. I know Apatow is not everyone’s cup of tea. But Leslie Mann really wasn’t at all bad in Knocked Up. And she just had a short appearance in 40yo Virgin, but also wasn’t bad.
Also: Woody Allen and Diane Keaton.
Comment by Kaimi — August 18, 2008 @ 7:31 pm
When Brad Pitt was on Friends. Ugh.
Comment by Susan M — August 18, 2008 @ 7:34 pm
They got divorced soon after, didn’t they?
Some other successful ones were Mel Brooks and Ann Bancroft who appeared in a couple of pictures together.
While successful I really wish Clint Eastwood wasn’t putting his girlfriend in nearly every movie he did in the late 70′s. Ugh. Then when they broke up she wrote a “tell all” book about how he ruined her career. Give me a break. The only reason she had a career was because she made Eastwood cast her in everything.
Comment by Clark — August 18, 2008 @ 7:35 pm
Yep.
I don’t know if that gets chalked up in the success column or the failure column.
On the plus side: You get a couple of iconic movies out of it.
On the down side: Lose the girl; career never really reaches the same point again; and after a relationship with Mia Farrow (also an example of not-disastrous, at least on the screen), end up in creepy relationship with stepdaughter.
They aren’t _screen_ disasters, really. Personal disasters, though? Kinda looks that way.
Comment by Kaimi — August 18, 2008 @ 7:41 pm
Kenneth Branagh and – lots of movies.
Actually, he and Emma Thompson made some good movies. But then, he started sleeping with the leading ladies in every movie he made, cheating on and then leaving his spouse (or partner) at the time for whomever he was starring with in the next movie.
Comment by Ivan Wolfe — August 18, 2008 @ 7:51 pm
A couple examples on the plus side:
Joel Coen and Francis McDormand
David Mamet and Rebecca Pidgeon
Comment by BTD Greg — August 18, 2008 @ 7:55 pm
Also, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker seem to be getting by just fine.
Comment by BTD Greg — August 18, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
Leslie Mann is crazy hot and a terrific actress. She would work well in any movie, so she doesn’t count. Same goes for Robin Wright.
Comment by MCQ — August 18, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
Greg, I beg to differ. Haven’t you heard the rumors lately? Matthew and Sarah haven’t really worked together either, have they?
Comment by MCQ — August 18, 2008 @ 8:13 pm
Let’s see what happens when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie appear in an other movie together.
Paul Bettany starred with his wife in A Beautiful Mind. (Although I don’t believe they were married at the time yet)
Tony Scott married actress Donna Scott who had minor roles in several of his movies. Of course he was also complicit in the royal mess that was Stallone’s second marriage to Bridget Nielsen whom he was having an affair with on the set of Beverly Hills Cop II.
Tracy Pollan and Michael J. Fox met and dated while she played a girlfriend on the show. They eventually married although oddly she was dropped (perhaps to avoid the problems we speak of?) and Courtney Cox became the new girlfriend. Michael J. Fox’s marriage appears to be one of the few good ones although it’s worth noting that he stays as far away from Hollywood as possible.
Comment by Clark — August 18, 2008 @ 8:16 pm
Will Arnett and Amy Poehler (sp?) were both on Arrested Development (she wasn’t on the show very long though).
Comment by Susan M — August 18, 2008 @ 8:26 pm
Dominic Monaghan and Evangeline Lilly have been dating since the first season. Apparently they broke up for a short time but are back together. While Monaghan wasn’t on the show this last season he does appear in the occasional episode as a ghost or for flashbacks.
Comment by Clark — August 18, 2008 @ 8:33 pm
Wife Of GOB: I’m in love with your brother-in-law.
GOB: You’re in love with your own brother? The one in the army?
Wife Of GOB: No, your sister’s husband.
GOB: Michael? Michael!
Wife Of GOB: No, that’s your sister’s brother.
GOB: No, I’m my sister’s brother. You’re in love with me – me.
Wife Of GOB: I’m in love with Tobias.
GOB: My brother-in-law?
Wife Of GOB: I know it can never be, so I’m leaving. I’m enlisting in the army.
GOB: To be with your brother ..
Wife Of GOB: No!
Comment by Rusty — August 18, 2008 @ 8:56 pm
Not according to the tabloid covers I’ve been seeing in the grocery store.
Comment by Allison — August 18, 2008 @ 9:08 pm
…er, that was in reference to comment #8. Forgot to refresh screen.
Comment by Allison — August 18, 2008 @ 9:08 pm
Susan. That episode of Friends is one of my favorites. Don’t knock the Brad Pitt Thanksgiving…
Comment by gabby — August 18, 2008 @ 9:58 pm
The Brad Pitt thanksgiving episode was one of the best. I’m not a huge Friends fan but that was pretty hilarious.
Comment by Clark — August 18, 2008 @ 10:24 pm
I don’t think there’s any kind of rule. Some movies work out; some don’t. Some marriages work out; some don’t.
Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn weren’t married, but they were permanent companions and they made a bunch of very good films (and a couple of clunkers).
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward have been married for about 50 years, and they made some very good movies and some very bad ones.
Woody Allen did very well by his companions. He wasn’t married to Diane Keaton (who has never married) but he made very good movies with Diane, and with Mia Farrow (he did eventually marry Mia, and we know how that turned out).
His most successful marriage has been to Soon Yi, and she isn’t in his films.
And by the way, Madonna was the kiss of death for every film she was in. It had nothing to do with her relationships.
Comment by D. Fletcher — August 18, 2008 @ 11:17 pm
I’m wrong. Woody didn’t ever legally wed Mia.
Comment by D. Fletcher — August 18, 2008 @ 11:19 pm
I know they divorced three years after, but I always loved LA Story with Steve Martin & Victoria Tennant.
Comment by TStevens — August 19, 2008 @ 6:09 am
Affleck and J-Lo in Gigli. Though we may need to change this from “spouses” to include couples.
Comment by Tim J — August 19, 2008 @ 7:13 am
Okay, so I don’t keep current on my celebrity gossip. I should have said, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker had a pretty good run there (for a Hollywood couple).
Comment by BTD Greg — August 19, 2008 @ 7:47 am
Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt managed Seven together.
BTW – D Fletcher, I have a hard time calling marrying his daughter “his most successful marriage.” Just on principle. I’m afraid regardless of their talent that Roman Polanski and Woody Allen just deserve no respect. And yes, I recognize that Polanski was messed up due to the murder of his wife by Charles Manson. But that’s no excuse for raping 14 year old girls and carrying on with 15 year old girls. Ugh… (Not a slam at you D, just that those are two figures that really, really disturb me)
Comment by Clark — August 19, 2008 @ 9:02 am
Roman Polanski is a subject for another day.
Soon Yi Previn was not Woody Allen’s daughter, not even adopted by him. She was adopted by Mia and Andre Previn. She grew up in Mia’s house, and Woody knew her as a teenager. There are many men who marry women they knew as teenagers, including my uncle, who married my aunt after being engaged to her older sister.
Woody did have an affair with Soon Yi, when she was 22.
Comment by D. Fletcher — August 19, 2008 @ 9:33 am
I think it’s undeniable Roman Polanski is a great filmmaker. Personally, it’s not hard for me at all to separate his skill as a filmmaker from the fact he’s a statutory rapist. I respect one aspect of the man and deplore the other.
I’ve known a lot of really nice people that are horrible filmmakers, and it’s just as easy for me to separate those two facts in my mind as well.
Comment by Brian G — August 19, 2008 @ 11:38 am
Madonna was the kiss of death for every film she was in.
Um, hello? Desperately Seeking Susan!
Comment by Susan M — August 19, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
Yes, I’ll give you Desperately Seeking Susan as Madonna’s only successful work in films, basically playing herself.
Her other two pretty good roles were in Dick Tracy, and in A League of Our Own, where her role was small, but she was pretty funny in it.
Comment by D. Fletcher — August 19, 2008 @ 1:19 pm
I don’t know if they were married at the time, but when James Cameron made T2, was he married to Linda Hamilton? Then he became “king of the world” and dumped her for Suzy Amis. T2 is pretty iconic film as far as the action genre is concerned.
Comment by Lance — August 20, 2008 @ 6:31 pm
Madonna was the kiss of death for every film she was in.
How dare you besmirch Body of Evidence!
Comment by Brian V — August 20, 2008 @ 9:12 pm
My understanding was that she left him after he beat her up the night after he won the Academy award.
Comment by clark — August 20, 2008 @ 9:41 pm
The Fountain was one of the worst films I’ve ever seen.
Eyes Wide Shut – I’m embarrassed to say – I saw on a first date. It goes without saying there was no second date.
Comment by John K. — August 23, 2008 @ 5:01 am
I loved the Fountain. I don’t care what anybody else says.
Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter have made some good movies together. But then there was that Planet of the Apes. :shudder:
Comment by madhousewife — August 23, 2008 @ 11:02 am
The excellent and duly message.
Comment by labbless — January 3, 2010 @ 12:49 am