Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly
Creation tells the story of Charles Darwin (played by Paul Bettany) during the time he was writing his book “On the Origin of Species”. During this time Darwin was also struggling to come to terms with the tragic death of his daughter, Annie as well as rebuild his relationship with the rest of his family.
Adding to the family feel of the film, Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly are wed in real life, and Charles’ daughter Annie is played by Martha West, who is the daughter of the star of hit TV show ‘The Wire’ Dominic West.
To celebrate the release of Creation on DVD and Blu-ray on 18th January, we’re going to look some family partnerships that have contributed to the world of cinema.
Joan and John Cusack
The Cusack’s have been making films for years. Jon has been nominated for a Golden Globe and his sister was nominated for an Academy Award.
Joan Cusack starred alongside Jack Black in ‘School of Rock’. John Cusack has had many starring roles including ‘Grosse point Blank’ (which also featured his sister) as well as ‘Being John Malkovich’ and disaster epic ‘2012.’
They have starred in more than one film together including the adaptation of Nick Hornby novel ‘High Fidelity’ and the brat-pack classic, ‘Sixteen Candles’ by the late great John Hughes.
The Coen Brothers
From ‘The Big Lebowski’ to ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’, Joel and Ethan Coen have made arguably some of the best films in the last few decades. The brothers are famed for their views on American society with a retro feel in most of their releases.
Their films have won themselves and their cast and crew, countless awards including Oscars for best picture and best director.
Their latest film ‘A Serious Man’ has received rave reviews and is said to be semi-autobiographical.
The Wachowski Brothers
The world was introduced to Larry and Andrew Wachowski through their groundbreaking Matrix Trilogy.
Their work is heavily influenced by comic books and the pair originally wrote for Marvel comics before getting into the world of film. They have contributed to comic book movie adaptations including; V for Vendetta and Speed Racer.
Terry Gilliam and Amy Gilliam
Terry Gilliam has brought some of the greatest fantasy tales to the big screen. His work, including that with the Monty Python bunch has one him many awards.
His daughter Amy Gilliam has been assistant to the director (who just happens to be her Dad) on many of his films, including; Tideland and Brothers Grimm which starred the late Heath Ledger.
Her biggest contribution to film was as producer on Gilliam’s Latest fantasy epic, ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnass us’, the last film that Heath Ledger was a part of before tragically passing away.
Thomas and Randy Newman
The Newman family which consists of Thomas, Joel, Lionel, Alfred, David and Randy are all musical composers with many contributing to films.
Randy and Thomas have won numerous Academy Awards between them for their work on animated films.
Their best work has been for studio giant Pixar, for films such as; Cars, A Bugs Life and Wall-E. Randy is probably best known for the song "You've Got a Friend in Me" which was the title track for the first completely CG animation Toy Story.
Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connolly
The pair met on the set of the Russell Crowe film ‘A Beautiful Mind’ and were married in 2003. They have starred in numerous films together as well as Creation and have a son Stellan (named for actor Stellan Skarsgård).
Dominic West and Martha West
The British born actor Dominic West had small roles throughout the naughties in films such as Chicago, Mona Lisa Smile and 300.
He shot to fame in 2008 as Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty in smash American Drama series The Wire, which has been named by critics as one of the “greatest television series of all time”.
His daughter Martha West made her acting debut in Creation, in which she plays Annie, the daughter who inspired Charles Darwin to publish his groundbreaking discoveries in his book “On the Origin of Species”.
Creation is out on DVD 18th January.
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