Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton, Woody Allen: The Filmmakers Who Recycle Stars

Quentin Tarantino is well-known for choosing to use the same actors over and over again, and it's not at all incidental. He's referred to the likes of Samuel L. Jackson and Tim Roth (both of whom star in his latest film 'The Hateful Eight') as the 'Tarantino Superstars', and he's hardly alone in his favouritism.

Quentin Tarantino loves his 'superstars'

More: Samuel L. Jackson denies being Tarantino's muse

1. Tim Burton - This quirky director has cast his former partner Helena Bonham Carter in no less than seven of his movies including 'Corpse Bride' and 'Sweeney Todd', while Johnny Depp has been in eight such as 'Edward Scissorhands' and 'Sleepy Hollow'.

Tim Burton favours Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp

2. Judd Apatow - Comedy filmmaking at its finest, though not entirely varied. Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill have been in so many movies that Apatow has been involved with - whether it be as a director, writer or producer - that it's difficult to count, and he's constantly adding to his collection. Jason Segel and James Franco, for example.

Judd Apatow does comedy like no-one else

3. Nora Ephron - A big fan of Meg Ryan, who's been in four of her films, she opted to unite Ryan and Tom Hanks as a romantic couple in two movies: 'Sleepless In Seattle' and 'You've Got Mail'. Thankfully, both are awesome movies.

Nora Ephron united Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan twice

4. David O. Russell - Ephron was nowhere near as bad as this guy is, though, who's seriously got some sort of Jennifer Lawrence/Bradley Cooper fever going on. Since the success of 'Silver Linings Playbook', the duo have re-teamed on two more films in rather a short space of time: 'American Hustle' and 'Joy'.

 How many more times with David O. Russell team Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence together?

5. Edgar Wright - We've certainly got no complaints when Wright recycles. Obviously, 'Shaun Of The Dead', 'Hot Fuzz' and 'The World's End' are all part of his and Simon Pegg's Blood and Cornetto Trilogy, so naturally they re-use the same actors. But originally, many of the stars from those movies - Nick Frost, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Bailey and Jessica Hynes - appeared in the short-lived TV series 'Spaced'. Wright has also been involved with 'The Adventures of Tintin', also starring Simon Pegg, and served as executive producer on 'Sightseers' and 'Attack The Block' which, again, feature many familiar faces.

Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg are frequent collaborators

6. Woody Allen - While Woody Allen does tend to pick from a broad range of actors, among his go-to stars used to be the likes of his ex wife Mia Farrow as well as Diana Keaton, and more recently actors such as Alec Baldwin, Scarlett Johansson and Emma Stone. Mind you, if you'd done as many films as Allen, you'd run out of actors too.

Woody Allen has a vast array of recyclable actors

7. Joel and Ethan Coen - The Coen Brothers are just as notorious for their little club of actors, among which include Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Frances McDormand, Sam Raimi and John Turturro. Buscemi is probably the biggest favourite, having appeared in seven of their movies: 'Miller's Crossing', 'Fargo', 'The Big Lebowski', 'Paris, je t'aime' etc etc.

The Coen Brothers are serial favouritists

8. Martin Scorsese - Robert De Niro used to be Scorsese's favourite muse, with appearances in 'Goodfellas', 'Cape Fear', 'Taxi Driver' and so forth, but now it seems Leonardo DiCaprio has taken over. 2013's 'The Wolf Of Wall Street' was their most recent collaboration, but he's also appeared in 'Shutter Island', 'The Aviator', 'Gangs of New York' and 'The Departed'.

It was De Niro to DiCaprio for Martin Scorsese

9. Wes Anderson - Anderson isn't one of the most prolific filmmakers out there, but of the handful of films he's done, Bill Murray has been in all but one. Owen Wilson closely follows, having only avoided appearances on two films. Well, everyone has favourites!

Bill Murray is a Wes Anderson staple