10 Main Actors Who Have Surprisingly By no means Labored With Steven Spielberg

Ask a movie historian when the trendy age of filmmaking really started, and likelihood is they’ll say Jaws. The world’s first blockbuster created a brand new period marked by heightened motion, drama, and the technical prowess to maneuver the digital camera in methods audiences had by no means dreamed of earlier than. It was additionally the world’s introduction to Steven Spielberg, a person who would shortly change into acknowledged as among the best administrators of all time. With numerous classics like Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, and Catch Me If You Can below his belt and displaying completely no indicators of slowing down, Spielberg has probably the most untouchable filmographies ever.

All through this acclaimed profession, Spielberg has labored with a few of Hollywood’s greatest and brightest stars, together with A-listers like Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, Daniel Day-Lewis, Meryl Streep, and lots of extra. The listing of actors who’ve lent their skills to a few of Spielberg’s immediate classics seems to be at a look like a definitive who’s who of Hollywood…however solely at a look. Nevertheless, comb by the casts of Spielberg’s greatest hits and even his extra under-the-radar movies, and audiences will uncover some obtrusive omissions. These A-listers have by no means labored with Spielberg, that means audiences are lacking out on seeing him direct a few of fashionable cinema’s most fascinating performers.

10 Ryan Gosling

Greatest identified for ‘Barbie’ (2023)

Regardless of being probably the most in style actors of the 2010s, Ryan Gosling exploded even further in popularity within the 2020s. The star of such numerous style movies as The Nice Guys, Blade Runner 2049 and final 12 months’s smash hit Barbie, Gosling has persistently confirmed himself as not solely certainly one of Hollywood’s hottest but in addition gifted main males. It’s shocking, then, that his path has but to cross with Steven Spielberg, particularly contemplating the wide selection of initiatives wherein Gosling has succeeded.

This lack of collaboration between the A-listers, nevertheless, is not as a consequence of a scarcity of belief or respect. Simply earlier this 12 months, Spielberg was gushing over Gosling’s The Fall Guy. Spielberg, after all, is understood for his use of sensible results, so his reward for Gosling’s movie comes with loads of weight behind it. Hopefully, for the sake of each the Oscar-nominated actor and the viewers, Gosling will get the possibility to carry out a few of these sensible stunts in a future Spielberg.

9 Will Smith

Greatest Identified for ‘I, Robotic’ (2004)

Will Smith was among the most bankable stars from the mid-Nineties all the best way to the top of the 2010s. Regardless of his peak coinciding with a few of Spielberg’s most efficient years, Smith and the celebrated director have by no means collaborated on a movie. Smith’s 2004 film, I Robot, would’ve been an ideal automobile for Spielberg’s directorial sensibilities and Smith’s main man strengths.

Different notable shut calls between the Oscar-winning actor and director embody quite a lot of initiatives by Spielberg’s DreamWork’s animation, in addition to the odd 2013 remake of Oldboy. As a substitute of the Spike Jones-directed, Josh Brolin-starring movie audiences wound up with, the unique imaginative and prescient for this Western remake would have seen Spielberg and Smith joining forces. Smith undoubtedly might have taken on the bodily elements of the function, and Spielberg would have the technical prowess for the job.

8 Margot Robbie

Greatest Identified for ‘Barbie’ (2023)

Since her breakout function in Martin Scorsese‘s The Wolf of Wall Street, Margot Robbie has change into certainly one of if not the most well-liked main ladies in Hollywood. Except for Scorsese, Margot Robbie has labored with different iconic administrators, reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino, Adam McKay, and Greta Gerwig. Regardless of working with a lot of Tinseltown’s greatest, Robbie and her multi-billion greenback field workplace draw have by no means labored with Steven Spielberg.

The closest the pair have come to working collectively up to now might have been when Spielberg briefly stopped by the Wolf of Wall Street set and assisted in a single scene — sadly, it did not function Robbie. This sort of uncredited assistance is one thing that Spielberg does on a regular basis, as he’s certainly one of Hollywood’s most revered producers and administrators who’s all the time keen to supply just a few solutions right here and there. Spielberg and Robbie might have missed their alternative to work collectively however will hopefully discover a mission to share sooner or later.

7 Johnny Depp

Greatest Identified for ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl’ (2003)

Johnny Depp is an oddity on an inventory like this purely due to what number of of his motion pictures come near capturing the kinds of adventures that made Spielberg well-known. If uneducated viewers have been requested to blindly guess who directed Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl, it might be cheap to imagine it was Steven Spielberg. Equally, Depp’s powerhouse efficiency in Donnie Brasco would appear proper at house in certainly one of Spielberg’s extra contemplative dramas, reminiscent of Munich.

After all, Depp is greatest identified for his affiliation with Tim Burton, a director who shares a lot of Spielberg’s style for the dramatic and eccentric however twists these themes into extra of a gothic, black comedy course. Classics reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood showcase Depp’s skill to generate viewers sympathy for quirky, irregular characters. It is vitally tempting to think about what Depp would seem like in certainly one of Spielberg’s extra offbeat worlds, reminiscent of in E.T. or A.I.

6 Sandra Bullock

Greatest Identified for ‘Gravity’ (2013)

For over three a long time, Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock has been a bankable film star and well-regarded actress. Nonetheless, regardless of showing in conventional blockbusters like Gravity and heart-pulling dramas like The Blind Side, Bullock has but to work with the grasp of both of these genres, Steven Spielberg. Bullock excels at conveying the identical spectrum of emotions that Spielberg has mastered, making any future collaboration between the pair a sure tearjerker.

The closest the 2 got here to collaboration was through The Prince of Egypt in 1998. Spielberg performed a vital hand within the beginning and improvement of DreamWorks within the late ’90s and was adamant that the story of Moses should be one of the new studio’s very first films. Although he did not have a direct hand within the movie itself and guided from a distance, The Prince of Egypt can be the closest Spielberg got here to working with Bullock, as she voices the function of Miriam.

5 Brad Pitt

Greatest Identified for ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ (2008)

Steven Spielberg was as soon as meant to adapt the Michael Chrichton novel EW (Emergency Ward) as a movie. Nevertheless, the movie ended up being a present that launched George Clooney‘s profession. Whereas adapting it, Spielberg was additionally engaged on an adaptation of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a movie that would languish in development for over a decade earlier than lastly rising as certainly one of Brad Pitt’s greatest hits of the 2000s.

Extra just lately, in 2014, Pitt and Spielberg were both linked to an adaptation of Robopocalypse by writer Daniel H. Wilson, however nothing got here out of it, and the novel stays unadapted. Brad Pitt has stayed a productive and gifted dramatic actor for over three a long time now, and Spielberg has equally proven no indicators of slowing down, so there’s nonetheless time for the 2 to work collectively on a mission becoming each of their skills, reminiscent of a struggle movie like Pitt’s Fury or Spielberg’s Saving Personal Ryan.

4 Frances McDormand

Greatest Identified for ‘Nomadland’ (2021)

With three Greatest Actress wins on the Academy Awards and a number of different honors to her identify, Frances McDormand has a greater than honest declare to the title of most celebrated actress of all time. Whereas not the most important film star or field workplace draw, particularly in comparison with the others on this listing, McDormand has long been one of Hollywood’s most celebrated and acknowledged skills. The actor has appeared in such indomitable classics as Fargo, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Nomadland, all of which garnered her much-earned {hardware} on the Academy Awards.

It’s shocking that one of many best-regarded actresses of her time and an equally iconic director have by no means collaborated on a dramatic mission. Spielberg is consistently shifting from style to style and thought to thought, however McDormand has proven an unimaginable vary in movie, effortlessly going from comedy to drama. She is understood for her dedication to her craft and talent to vanish into a task, making it all of the extra stunning that her skills have by no means been utilized for certainly one of Spielberg’s many initiatives.

3 Denzel Washington

Greatest Identified for ‘Coaching Day’ (2001)

With two Academy Awards below his belt for Glory and Training Day, Denzel Washington is one other extraordinarily gifted actor who has but to work with equally expert Spielberg. What units Denzel Washington aside from a few of his contemporaries are his skills as a director and the way that data base might play into collaborating with such a superb thoughts as Spielberg’s.

Having directed such movies as Fences and A Journal for Jordan, Denzel Washington is constructing a robust resumé as a filmmaker and is even being acknowledged by his friends. Maybe, in collaboration with Spielberg, Washington would have the ability to use a few of these expertise to create a really masterful film that ended in additional Oscar glory for them each. Hopefully, these two masters of their craft can have one other alternative sooner or later to share in one another’s skills.

2 Al Pacino

Greatest Identified for ‘The Godfather’ (1972)

Al Pacino is likely one of the greatest actors of all time and, in lots of eyes, the undisputed actor of the ’70s. Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Godfather are all traditional movies made throughout Pacino’s Nineteen Seventies “miracle run.” The latter movie is commonly considered the best ever made and was so impactful when it was launched Spielberg considered quitting filmmaking altogether, seeing the artwork kind as perfected.

Shockingly, nevertheless, these traditional filmographies do not function a single level of crossover. The closest Spielberg and Pacino’s paths got here to crossing was when Pacino turned down the starring role in Spielberg’s second function, movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Nonetheless, viewers can not help however surprise what might’ve been with Pacino’s performing and Spielberg’s deft hand and realism tackling the science fiction style. Regardless of each happening to work steadily for the subsequent forty years, Shut Encounters stays the pair’s solely shut encounter.

Watch on Paramount+

1 Robert De Niro

Greatest identified for ‘Raging Bull’ (1980)

If somebody doesn’t listing Al Pacino as the perfect actor of his era, it’s near-certain that they’ll as a substitute select his Heat costar, Robert De Niro. One of the crucial awarded actors of all time, Robert De Niro has been in a few of the most recognizable and memorable actors of all time, together with Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, and Good Fellas. Like Pacino, nevertheless, Robert De Niro has by no means been in certainly one of Steven Spielberg’s traditional movies.

De Niro is, after all, a standard main man for Martin Scorsese and has appeared in ten of the director’s twenty-six function movies. Thus, De Niro has had no need for roles in Spielberg’s initiatives. Nonetheless, the prospect of seeing two males typically thought-about on the peak of their respective fields is tantalizing to audiences. And with De Niro displaying completely no indicators of slowing down, a collaboration with Spielberg wouldn’t solely be well timed however really crucial.

NEXT: 15 Directors Who Never Went to Film School