Actors From Wes Anderson Movies You Didn't Know Were Dead

As everyone from Quentin Tarantino to George Lucas will tell you, it's a huge boost when a Hollywood veteran is willing to not only read, but then appear in one of your early films. Anderson (as well as Luke and Owen Wilson) got that big break courtesy of James Caan. 

Anderson and company were having a tough time finding an actor to play the key role of tough guy Mr. Henry in the director's debut film "Bottle Rocket," but as Anderson admits on the DVD commentary, "we were very lucky to get" James Caan, as "we had the same agent." Landing the part proved to be kismet for the Academy Award nominated actor, who was looking to restart his career after a stint in rehab and a run of bad press.

Caan not only was a perfect fit for the role as a twisted mentor to Luke and Owen Wilson's characters, but he also acted as a mentor to the actors themselves. He even incorporated a bit of his own life into the film, showing off his karate skills, and secured a part for his sensei, Tak Kubota. Caan philosophized on the film's title and its meaning, telling the Dallas Observer in 1995, "These guys, see, Anthony and Dignan and Bob, they're bottle rockets. They go a certain distance, then they stop. And that's OK, because they're happy."

While he is perhaps best known for playing Sonny Corleone in the first "Godfather" film, Caan played numerous larger than life characters, from Brian Piccolo in the tearjerker "Brian's Song," to Frank in Michael Mann's "Thief," to the terrorized writer Paul Sheldon in "Misery," as well as Will Ferrell's "Elf" father. 

"I fought to always never be the same person," he told CBS News in 2021 before dying a year later at age 82. "The fun of being an actor is the fun of being somebody else for three months, you know?" 

Veteran character actor Seymour Cassel had a bit of a career renaissance after winning the first ever acting prize at the Sundance Film Festival for 1992's "In the Soup." The film's director, Alexandre Rockwell, introduced the Cassavetes veteran to an up-and-coming director named Wes Anderson who cast him in three straight movies, starting with "Rushmore," then "The Royal Tenenbaums," and lastly in "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou." When asked by The Los Angeles Times in 2009 why Anderson was drawn to him, Cassel replied, "He liked my face."

Cassel's friendly face was a steady presence in those three Anderson films, and his contributions also went to work overtime when the cameras stopped rolling. He played Jason Schwartzman's barber father in "Rushmore," and in the film's audio commentary, Schwartzman said, "off-camera he was sort of like a father-figure ... he was great with giving me pointers and advice ... and we have similar noses." While he was truly a supporting player to the mammoth cast of "The Royal Tenenbaums," Anderson said on that film's audio commentary that Cassel was invaluable to the production, even playing Royal in an early script reading, and being "an acting teacher in a way."

In an almost six decade career, Cassel racked up an impressive resume with hundreds of roles delivered on screens small and large. He was a favorite of director John Cassavetes (Oscar nominated for his role in 1968's "Faces," and the half title star of 1971's "Minnie and Moskowitz"), and appeared in movies as diverse as "Tin Men," "Colors," and "Dick Tracy." He also popped up on plenty of beloved television shows over the years, from "The Twilight Zone" to "Batman," "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and "Flight of the Conchords."

Cassel died from complications from Alzheimer's disease in 2019, at age 84.

For all the wonderful roles Helen McCory gave a voice to (a voice The Independent called "rich as pudding, as sharp as a splinter"), a majority of them also put the rest of herself on display on screen too. And yet she cared little about appearances, once saying that many actresses deny themselves roles by unwilling to be unsexy, and that "one interesting thing about acting is trying to lose your ego in the character" (via The Arts Desk). 

One not so pretty part she drank (apple cider) up as was a bit part in "Fantastic Mr. Fox" as the poor eye-sighted wife of antagonist Franklin Bean. In her three decade career, she only had a handful of voice roles, including "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Loving Vincent," and her last released role, "Charlotte."

McCrory found early success on the British stage, and then popularity on TV in the 2000 miniseries "Anna Karenina," and later on such programs as "Penny Dreadful," "Fearless," and "Peaky Blinders." One of her earliest screen roles was playing a prostitute in "Interview with a Vampire," and she later played mother to Heath Ledger's "Casanova," then to Draco Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" series, Tony Blair's wife Cherie in several films including "The Queen," and worked with Martin Scorsese on "Hugo" and James Bond in "Skyfall."

Her husband, fellow actor Damian Lewis, announced in 2021 on Twitter that "after an heroic battle with cancer, the beautiful and mighty woman that is Helen McCrory has died peacefully at home," adding "she died as she lived. Fearlessly." She was 52.

In the world of fashion, Isabella Blow was often at the headwinds of spotting trends and helping to push them forward. She was mentored by Anna Wintour, hung out with Warhol and Basquiat, was the fashion editor of Tatler Magazine, helped launch the career of Alexander McQueen, and let her head be the canvas to hat-maker Philip Treacy.

Blow crossed paths with both "Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" director Wes Anderson and co-writer Noah Baumbach while in Paris. They each saw her separately and when they were discussing the mystery eye-catching woman, Anderson was able to confirm she was one in the same by asking Baumbach, "would this woman be out of place in a matador's outfit?'" (via Film School Rejects).

They cast her in a cameo in their collaboration as Antonia Cook, naturally topped with a showy headpiece that landed her a spot on V Magazine's list of most stylish Anderson characters. As the new head of the film society, Cook doesn't exactly put Bill Murray's title character at ease after a screening of his latest picture. Blow relished the part, telling Metro, "I adored it. I had my own trailer. The only thing was I didn't recognize Bill Murray. I said to him: 'Oh, have you ever done this before?' He said, 'Yes I've done about 70 movies.'"

Blow suffered from depression and took her own life in 2007. She was 48.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

When filling in the call sheet for minor "Royal Tenenbaums" roles, local talent was procured for the New York-based film shoot, including stage and screen veterans Tom Lacy and Keith Charles. Both appeared in a brief, but funny scene showing how Royal (Gene Hackman) took advantage of the finances of his minor son (Ben Stiller), and then was disbarred for doing so, with Lacy playing the presiding judge and Charles as Royal's lawyer, who wanted his client to "leave the objections to me."

Tom Lacy was born in New York and had been appearing on Broadway since the later 1960s, alongside stars such as James Coco, Dom DeLuise, Rita Moreno and Laura Linney. He later was a well known associate artist at The Old Globe theatre in San Diego, and logged over 30 screen credits including "The Bob Newhart Show," "The Waltons," "The Jeffersons," "Dallas," "L.A. Law" and "Doc Hollywood." Lacy passed away in 2020 at age 87.

Like his director, Keith Charles was a University of Texas graduate, and after his stint in the army, made his way to New York to pursue a career in acting. His first break came following Jerry Orbach in the narrator role of "The Fantasticks," which is also where he met his wife, the pianist Nancy Ford. He would go on to act in several Broadway and off-Broadway shows, on TV shows like "Guiding Light," "Kate & Allie," and "As The World Turns" and the film "Drop Dead Fred." Charles died in 2008 at age 74.