Q

Steven Soderbergh's inner circle: meet his go-to actors

From George Clooney to Riley Keough, these are some of the director/producer's favourite actors to work with.
Steven Soderbergh is known for working with certain actors on multiple occasions such as Matt Damon, who has appeared in seven of the director's films. (Getty Images)

By Melody Lau; Graphic by Christine Lieu

Logan Lucky is Steven Soderbergh's first movie since announcing his retirement from film four years ago. When its trailer came out two months ago, a few familiar faces appeared onscreen. Channing Tatum and Riley Keough are no strangers to Soderbergh's work. Tatum, a relative newcomer to Soderbergh's orbit, has starred in four of his last five films. And while this is Keough's first appearance in a Soderberg film, she is the star of The Girlfriend Experience, a Soderberg-produced TV series. (The Girlfriend Experience is based on Soderbergh's 2009 movie of the same name.)

Like other directors, Soderbergh enjoys bringing certain actors back for multiple movies. Below, we've rounded up five of his most frequently employed actors. Scroll below to see the full list of movie credits for each actor. 

(Christine Lieu/CBC)

George Clooney: Not only has Clooney starred in six of Soderbergh's films (Out of Sight, the Ocean's trilogy, Solaris, The Good German), but the two also co-founded a production company called Section Eight Productions. Together, they've put out a number of films directed by Soderberg and Clooney in addition to Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton, Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly and Stephen Gaghan's Syriana

Matt Damon: Next to Clooney, Damon is one of Soderbergh's go-to collaborators. Together, they've done seven films including the Ocean's trilogy, Che, The Informant!, Contagion and Soderbergh's last film before he briefly retired, Behind the Candelabra.

Julia Roberts: While men outnumber women in Soderbergh's inner circle of actors, there are a few notable women who have appeared in multiple films including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Viola Davis, the aforementioned Keough and, of course, Julia Roberts. She also starred in the popular Ocean's trilogy, but also scored an Academy Award-winning role in Erin Brockovich and was also in Full Frontal

Don Cheadle: Before showing up in the Ocean's trilogy, Cheadle was a Soderbergh favourite, starring in two of the director's standout films, Out of Sight and Traffic

Channing Tatum: As mentioned, Tatum has appeared in most of Soderbergh's more recent films including Haywire, Magic Mike, Side Effects and now, Logan Lucky

Other actors who have appeared in numerous Soderbergh films include Luis Guzman, Jude Law, Ann Dowd, Joe Chrest, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Douglas, Albert Finney and David Jensen.