Owen Wilson has made his first appearance since his suicide bid at the LA premiere of The Darjeeling Limited, the latest fruit of his double act with Texas University buddy Wes Anderson. As the Rushmore and Royal Tenenbaums director says he never wants to shoot a film his "best friend" isn't in, DS checks out some other filmmakers who rarely yell "action!" without their favourite thesps.

Johnny Depp's turn in 1990's Edward Scissorhands was the first in a long line of wacky roles for director Tim Burton. After starring in Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd, Depp gushed of his pal: "[Tim] is a brother, a friend, my godson's father. He is... someone that I would go to the ends of the earth for, and... he would do the same for me." Helena Bonham Carter went a step further in her own five-movie partnership with Burton by moving next door to him and having his children.

Jamie Foxx has teamed up with director Michael Mann on Miami Vice and The Kingdom since the pair bonded on the set of Ali in 2001. Co-star Will Smith is credited with setting the ball rolling after Mann was underwhelmed by the prospect of the Ray star playing Ali's coach. Foxx revealed: "The first time we met, he [Mann] didn't like me. Will Smith was talking to him about Ali and said: 'This guy can do it'. Michael said: 'I don't see it.'" But Smith insisted that he would not do the movie without Foxx and the rest is history.

Greg Grunberg pops up in just about every project by filmmaker JJ Abrams, including playing the doomed pilot on Lost and starring in unaired show The Catch. He appeared in What About Brian?, Felicity, Alias and Mission: Impossible 3, not to mention the mysterious movie known only as Cloverfield. Grunberg - who plays Matt Parkman in Heroes - may also bag a part in the Abrams-helmed Star Trek XI.

John Ratzenberger is known as Pixar's "good luck charm" since lending his vocal talents to every movie to come out of the animation studio. The ex-Cheers star had the "time of his life" playing Hamm in Toy Story back in 1995, saying: "I just thought, 'Wow! These guys are cool. Look at how much fun they're having!'" Not content with appearing in such box office smashes as Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, Ratzenberger also has a starring role on the company's softball team.