On-screen chemistry can be a hard thing to create. Many movies live and die by how well the actors work together, but it’s harder than it seems. You could have two extremely talented actors working together, but sometimes it doesn’t always click. Then there are those actors who just seem destined to share the screen. Those rare onscreen duos that work so well, we just want to see them together again and again.
It’s hard to say what makes for a good on-screen duo, but these teams have cracked the code. They make each other better while also sharing the screen generously. It is a partnership that these actors have perfected for our entertainment. Here are some of the most iconic movie duos.
10. Seth Rogen And James Franco
The partnership between Seth Rogen and James Franco started way back at the beginning of their respective careers. They played outcast buddies in the short-lived but much-loved high school series Freaks and Geeks. After the show’s cancellation, Franco went on to star in indies and the occasional Spider-Man movie, while Rogen slowly built a stellar comedy film career.
Their professional lives finally crossed again when they costarred in the stoner action-comedy Pineapple Express. With Rogen playing straight man to Franco’s goofball, a hilarious dynamic was established that has spanned ten movies to date, including The Disaster Artist, This is the End and The Interview.
9. Chris Evans And Scarlett Johansson
It will likely come as news to no one that Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson have starred in a number of movies together. Being that they are both founding members of the Avengers, they have starred alongside each other in six MCU movies to date, starting with The Avengers and (possibly) ending with Endgame.
These two have also shed their superhero costumes and starred in two other movies outside of the MCU. Both movies came long before the MCU was even started. The first film was the high school comedy The Perfect Score and the second was the romantic comedy The Nanny Diaries. Even if they prove to be done as Captain America and Black Widow, hopefully, these two will keep partnering in the future.
8. Will Ferrell And John C. Reilly
There was a time when Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly seemed like an odd pairing for a movie. Ferrell was well-known for his hilarious antics on SNL and starred in comedies like Anchorman and Elf. Reilly, on the other hand, was an Oscar-nominated character actor.
However, Ferrell convinced Reilly to explore his funny side and they haven’t looked back since. Starting with 2006’s Talladega Nights, they have made four feature films together. There best collaboration is likely Step Brothers which was a great co-lead project that allowed them both to shine. Unfortunately, the less said about Holmes & Watson, the better.
7. Ben Affleck And Matt Damon
The friendship between Ben Affleck and Matt Damon is one of those great Hollywood stories that people just fall in love with. The two were childhood friends growing up in Boston who shared the dream of becoming famous actors. Despite the odds, both of them began building a strong acting career with a variety of roles in smaller film, even co-starring in 1992’s School Ties.
Their partnership eventually won them on Oscar for writing Good Will Hunting together. From then on, Affleck and Damon became the Hollywood power couple. They costarred in several other movies since that big success, like Dogma and Jersey Girl, and continue to be producing partners to this day.
6. Ben Stiller And Owen Wilson
A successful comedy duo is often about opposing personalities. In that sense, it’s easy to see why Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson work so well together. Stiller’s neurotic and high-strung nature is in perfect contrast to Wilson’s laid-back attitude. This has allowed them to bounce off each other to great effect in several movies.
The duo’s best comedic collaboration is certainly Zoolander. Though Stiller plays the titular character, the movie wouldn’t work half as well without Wilson’s equally dim male model. They’ve starred in a whopping twelve feature films together, and while most are comedies, The Royal Tenenbaums and Permanent Midnight show they can handle dramatic work as well.
5. Simon Pegg And Nick Frost
The so-called Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy helped introduce the world to the brilliance of Edgar Wright as a filmmaker, but it also showed the world an unforgettable onscreen team in Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Really, this duo owes a lot to Wright as they first starred together in the cult British series Spaced. After that, they moved into the movie world with the horror-comedy classic, Shaun of the Dead.
The rest of the trilogy includes the excellent Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. Each film is memorable not only for Wright’s high-energy filmmaking but for Pegg and Frost’s chemistry. In each of the films, their friendship is central and they kept that spirit alive when they starred and co-wrote Paul.
4. Emma Stone And Ryan Gosling
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are two of the most likable and entertaining actors currently working in Hollywood. Perhaps it should be no surprise that their collaborations together have been so great. Though they’ve only made three films together so far, this feels like the beginning of a long-lasting Hollywood partnership – at least we hope it is.
They first showed their outstanding chemistry in Crazy Stupid Love, followed by the mostly forgettable Gangster Squad. Both of those films had them romantically involved, so it likely prepared them well for creating one of the great movie romances ever in La La Land.
3. Paul Newman And Robert Redford
Two movies together might not sound like the biggest collaboration between actors, but given how iconic those movies are and how well these two legends worked together, their place on this list is well-earned.
Paul Newman and Robert Redford first co-starred in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. With several other high-profile actors circling the project, it was only luck we got this brilliant pairing. After creating one of the most entertaining buddy movies of all-time, it’s no surprise Hollywood wanted to put the two together again. This time they starred in the caper, The Sting, another wildly entertaining movie which once again showed they were a match made in movie heaven.
2. Tom Hanks And Meg Ryan
A romantic comedy is only as good as the couple at its center. If the audience doesn’t believe the two actors can really fall in love, there’s just no chance the movie will succeed. That is why Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are often considered one of the best romantic comedy couples of all-time.
They first co-starred in the little-seen Joe and the Volcano which eventually became a cult hit. Their next two collaborations, Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, proved to be instant classics in the romantic comedy genre. People just couldn’t get enough of seeing them together.
1. Robert De Niro And Joe Pesci
Robert De Niro is one of the most celebrated actors of all-time so it’s rare, especially at the height of his talents, that another actor could be as compelling or more while sharing the screen. That was the great talent of Joe Pesci.
The two starred in three Martin Scorsese films, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Casino, each film allowing them both to give intense, compelling and terrific performances as very violent men. They also co-starred in Once Upon a Time in America and Pesci had small roles in De Niro’s directorial projects A Bronx Tale and The Good Shepard. They will soon have a long-anticipated reunion in Scorsese’s The Irishman.
