Even the biggest stars start somewhere, often cast alongside actors who justify the term “legend” by their previous roles or long history in the business. It can be a recipe for weirdness – as anyone who has witnessed a Martin Sheen’s scenes with an improvising, semi-coherent Marlon Brando in the Apocalypse Now documentary Hearts of Darkness will attest. However, it can also yield great performances from both parties, providing a springboard for one actor and a career triumph the other, as proven in these 15 classic examples.
Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not (1944)
At the age of just 19, Lauren Bacall was cast opposite Humphrey Bogart (who was over 20 years her senior) in To Have and Have Not. On the basis of a screen test, director Howard Hawks offered her the role against the objections of the studio. After years in the business, Bogart had become a massive star with 1941’s High Sierra, but Bacall is every bit his equal in their first film together. Her delivery of the iconic line “You know how to whistle don’t you… you just put your lips together and blow” was a sensation. Bogart and Bacall’s ongoing collaborations sealed both their stardoms. Their best together film is The Big Sleep, where Bacall’s scenes with Bogart’s Philip Marlowe crackle with smart dialogue and sexual tension. The couple married in real-life, Hollywood legends who stayed together until Bogart’s death in 1957.
Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier in Sleuth (1972)
In 1972, Michael Caine was already a star thanks to movies such as Alfie and The Italian Job, but going up against acting legend (and famously difficult) Laurence Olivier could make anyone nervous. They’re perfectly cast in a tale of class and sexual warfare, as Olivier’s game-obsessed writer invites his wife’s new lover (Caine) to his mansion in the country. What ensues is a battle of wits where Caine’s character seems out of his depth, although there’s a sting in the tale. Based on Anthony Shaffer’s stage play, Olivier is clearly in his element and Caine is as charismatic as ever. There’s a real tension between the two actors, particularly when Olivier spits at his co-star, “You’re a jumped-up pantry boy who doesn’t know his place.”
Al Pacino and Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)
Hard to imagine that Al Pacino was once the new kid on the block, but at the time James Caan was expected to be the breakout star of The Godfather. However, the story is all about the relationship between Michael Corleone (Pacino) and his father, Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando). If Brando dominates the first half of the film with a performance that would overshadow everything he’d done before, then the second half belongs to Pacino. He’s completely believable as a relative outsider drawn into the bloody family business until he embodies it completely.
Christopher Walken and Robert de Niro in The Deer Hunter (1978)
The Deer Hunter was a star vehicle for Robert de Niro, already a legend from roles in The Godfather Part II and Taxi Driver, but Christopher Walken steals the film in his first big screen role. Michael Cimino’s film tends towards overblown melodrama with the Russian roulette scenes, but it’s most effective in the quieter moments that evoke the lives of a generation before and after the Vietnam War. De Niro’s big moment comes in his character’s final epiphany – however, Walken’s breakdown in a military hospital has the most impact. While De Niro was nominated for Best Actor, Walken won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role and the rest is history.
Kevin Costner and Sean Connery in The Untouchables (1987)
Kevin Costner’s star was on the rise in the mid-80s and The Untouchables was his first really big hit. Sean Connery was settling into the crusty mentor roles that would define a career resurgence of his own. They’re well cast together in an old-fashioned gangster flick shot through with Brian de Palma’s directorial flair. An ambitious G-man who supports prohibition just because the law says, Elliot Ness could come across as a bit of prig, but Costner makes the character likably idealistic. Connery’s aging beat cop is a perfect foil, bringing a more pragmatic form of wisdom. In their best scene together, Connery gets the classic “they pull a knife, you pull a gun” speech, but Costner stakes his claim as an intelligent action star in some brilliantly staged shootouts.
Nicolas Cage and Cher in Moonstruck (1987)
“You’re a wolf… the big part of you has no words and it’s a wolf,” Loretta (Cher) tells Ronny (Nicolas Cage) in what might be the best rom com of the ‘80s. In the early stages of his career, the wolfish Cage brings all his usual intensity to the role of a decidedly unusual love interest. Cher is mesmerizing in her best film role. Everything’s a bit off-kilter in Moonstruck, from the unexpected connections throughout the moonlit nights to the opera-fueled love story at the center. Cher and Cage look too glamorous to really convince as a bookkeeper and a baker – but the film is all about magic, not realism. They’re one of cinema’s great couples in a film that gets better with age.
Anna Paquin and Holly Hunter in The Piano (1993)
While The Piano is all about the power of Holly Hunter’s silent performance, there’s no ignoring Anna Paquin’s screen debut as her daughter. A tale of colonialism and repressed passion, the most striking images in Jane Campion’s classic are of Hunter and Paquin stranded on a New Zealand beach. Contrasting the stillness of Hunter’s character, Paquin is constantly in motion. The film creates an unusually strong bond between them, both visually and emotionally. Hunter and Paquin won Oscars for their work, for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively, with the latter going on to star in The X-Men series and HBO’s True Blood.
Abigail Breslin and The Cast in Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
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In a comedy-drama that boasts one of the best ensemble casts of the last two decades, newcomer Abigail Breslin shines in her first major role. In fact, she steals the show by virtue of a performance that undercuts the mannered style of child actors. Of the older actors, veterans Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, and Alan Arkin are on top form, along with Steve Carell and Paul Dano (at a time when they were rising stars as well). They go down as one of the most dysfunctional screen families. Breslin is the emotional heart of the film – hilariously out of place in a kid’s pageant, but triumphant in a way that brings them all together at the end.
Paul Dano and Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)
Going up against Daniel Day-Lewis in any role means accepting a co-actor who will resolutely stay in character, as per the dictates of “the method.” In There Will Be Blood, oil prospector Daniel Plainview is one of his most fearsome performances. Paul Dano replaced the original actor cast as his rival, slimy preacher Eli Sunday, two weeks after filming began. Whatever the reason for the replacement, Dano more than holds his own against the veteran actor. Theirs is an on-screen rivalry that begins as a clash of ideologies but progresses to physical abuse, culminating in murder. The scenes where the two actors go at one another, getting dragged through the mud or slapped around the face, seem shockingly real. It’s Day-Lewis’ greatest performance, but Dano is excellent as the only person who can really get under his skin. The film is most electrifying when they’re on screen together.
Dev Patel and Anil Kapoor in Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
A surprise hit through incredible word of mouth and a subsequent Best Picture Oscar winner, Slumdog Millionaire marked Dev Patel’s screen debut. As a teenager about win big on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, he’s cast opposite Hindi film legend Anil Kapoor as the duplicitous host who tries to trip him up. While the film’s flashbacks explain how Patel’s character learned the answers from a hard life on the streets of Mumbai, it’s the moments set in the studio against the antagonistic Kapoor that provide the most tension. Slumdog Millionaire is a great all-rounder, but Patel and Kapoor’s gameshow-within-a-film is a must-see battle of wits and acting.
Tom Holland and Robert Downey Jr in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
One of the joys of Spider-Man’s entry into to the MCU was the jokey relationship between Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) and Peter Parker (Tom Holland). First appearing in Captain America: Civil War, Holland made the role his own in Homecoming. Downey Jr might have had one eye on the MCU exit door by that point, but his interactions with Holland provide him more chances to lark around than he’d had since the first Iron Man. While he has to be more reactive in the moments with a scenery-chewing Michael Keaton, Holland’s exuberant nerdishness perfectly complements Downey Jr’s rather reluctant mentor in their scenes.
