Wes Anderson

Producer, Writer, Director

Birthdate: May 1, 1969 (57 Years Old)

Birthplace: Houston, Texas, USA

Wes Anderson (birthname: Wesley Wales Anderson) has created one of the most distinctive and stylish bodies of work of any American filmmaker since the late 1990s, when he made his debut feature, Bottle Rocket (1996), based on his short film of the same title, and co-written with lead actor, Owen Wilson, along with actor-brothers Luke and Andrew Wilson, and James Caan. The strong critical acclaim for the debut set a course that nearly no other American filmmaker of his generation has matched: As of 2023, Anderson has had eight of his eleven movies in the main competitions of the world’s top three film festivals—Berlin, Venice, and Cannes. Anderson’s second feature was the well-received comedy Rushmore (1998). It co-starred names who became regulars in Anderson’s company of actors, including Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray, along with Olivia Williams, Brian Cox, and Seymour Cassel, and won Anderson and Murray Independent Spirit Awards. Wes Anderson’s first major, international triumph (including a strong $71.4 million global gross) was the comedy-drama, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), premiering at the New York Film Festival and co-starring Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, and Alec Baldwin, earning an Oscar nomination for original screenplay, and winning Hackman two best acting prizes from the Golden Globes and the National Society of Film Critics. Anderson’s first flop was The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), with Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, and Bud Cort. Anderson bounced back three years later with his Indian-themed comedy-drama, The Darjeeling Limited (2007), co-written with Roman Coppola and co-starring Schwartzman, featuring Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Irrfan Khan, Huston, Murray, Natalie Portman, and Barbet Schroeder, and premiering at the Venice Film Festival. In a brilliant filmmaking departure, Wes Anderson made his first animated feature, his entertaining stop-motion adaptation (with co-writer Noah Baumbach) of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), with the voices of George Clooney (as Fox), Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Brian Cox, and Adrien Brody, and nominated for the best-animated feature Oscar. Anderson’s first Cannes competition premiere was his well-reviewed and commercial hit ($68.3 million globally), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), co-written with Roman Coppola and co-starring Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Schwartzman, and Bob Balaban. The film won Best Feature at the Gotham Awards and received an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. Wes Anderson’s biggest commercial success ($173 million gross on $25 million costs) was The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), starring a sprawling cast including Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Almaric, Brody, Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Murray, Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Schwartzman, Lea Seydoux, Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, and Wilson, and winning four of nine Oscar nominations (which included a Best Picture nomination). Anderson’s second stop-motion animated feature was Isle of Dogs (2018), once again featuring a massive ensemble of first-rate actors (this time in voice performances, and for the first time several Japanese actors) including Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Norton, Bob Balaban, Goldblum, Murray, Kunichi Nomura, Akira Takayama, Greta Gerwig, McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, Liev Schreiber, Abraham, Swinton, Yoko Ono, Harvey Keitel, Ken Watanabe, Courtney B. Vance, and Angelica Huston; grossing $64.2 million worldwide, the film became the first PG-13 animated film to earn a best animated feature Oscar nomination. Wes Anderson returned to live-action as director-writer-producer (for the first time in several years without producer Steve Rudin) of the anthology-episodic comedy-drama, The French Dispatch (2021), based on a story created by Anderson with Roman Coppola, Hugo Guinness, and Schwartzman, and once again involving a massive cast including Owen Wilson, Benicio del Toro, Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Bob Balaban, Henry Winkler, Lea Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Christoph Waltz, Jeffrey Wright, Elisabeth Moss, Liev Schreiber, Mathieu Almaric, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, and Angelica Huston, and after premiering in competition at the Cannes film festival, grossing a healthy amount ($46.3 million) nearly double costs. It took Anderson only two years to return to the big screen with his eleventh feature as director-writer-producer, Asteroid City (2023), based on a story by Anderson and Coppola, and a large cast led by Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jake Ryan, Wright, Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Norton, Brody, Hong Chau, Schreiber, Hope Davis, and Jeff Goldblum, and after premiering in competition at Cannes, received a wide summer 2023 release by Focus Features. Anderson returned to the world of Roald Dahl for his anthology film, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2024), comprising four tales adapted from Dahl short stories—“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” “The Swan,” “The Ratcatcher,” “Poison” and “Lucky Break,” with an ensemble including Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Richard Ayoade and Rupert Friend. Anderson shifted back to feature filmmaking for his European-set family comedy-adventure (story co-written by Roman Coppola), The Phoenician Scheme (2025), co-starring Benicio del Toro and Mia Threapleton, with Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend and Hope Davis, premiering in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and released by Focus Features (U.S.)/Universal Pictures (international).

Personal Life
Movies
Facts
FAQs

Personal life

Wes Anderson was born and raised in Houston, Texas by parents Ann Anderson (archaeologist, realtor) and Melver Anderson (ad executive, public relations). Anderson has a younger brother, artist Eric Chase Anderson, and an older brother, Mel. Anderson’s parents divorced when he was eight years old. Anderson’s most famous relative is great-grandfather Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan. Anderson studied at and graduated from St. John’s School (which he deployed as a location for his early filmmaking). Anderson majored in philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also worked as a projectionist at the university’s Hogg Memorial Auditorium, and graduated with a B.A. in 1991. Anderson’s height is 6’ 1”. Anderson’s estimated net worth is $50 million.

Known For

The Phoenician Scheme

Director (2025)

Asteroid City

Director (2023)

The French Dispatch

Director (2021)

Always at The Carlyle

Self (2018)

Isle of Dogs

Director (2018)

Awards

Seven-time Nominee, Best Original Screenplay/Best Animated Feature/Best Director/Best Picture, Academy Awards (2002, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2019); Three-time Winner, Best Best Feature/Best Commissioned Film, Annecy Animated Festival (2010, 2022); Winner, Best Original Screenplay, BAFTA Awards (2015); Six-time Nominee, Best Original Screenplay/Best Animated Film/Best Film, BAFTA Awards (2002, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2019); Two-time Winner, Silver Bear, Berlin Film Festival (2014, 2018); Nominee, Best Foreign Film, Cesar Awards (2015); Winner, Best Foreign Film, David di Donatello Awards (2014); Nominee, Best Director, Directors Guild of America Awards (2015); Two-time Nominee, Best Screenplay/Best Director, Golden Globes Awards (2015); Winner, Prix Henri Langlois (2019); Winner, Best Director, Independent Spirit Awards (1999); Three-time Winner, New Generation/Best Animation/Best Screenplay, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards (1998, 2009, 2014); Winner, Special Achievement Award, National Board of Review Awards (2009); Winner, Best Screenplay, National Society of Film Critics Awards (2015); Winner, Best Screenplay, New York Film Critics Circle Awards (2014); Three-time Nominee, Best Producer—Animated Motion Picture/Best Director—Theatrical Motion Picture, Producers Guild of America Awards (2010, 2013, 2015); Winner, Audience Award, South by Southwest Film Festival (2018); Winner, Little Golden Lion, Venice Film Festival (2007); Winner, Best Screenplay, Village Voice Film Poll (2014); Winner, Best Original Screenplay, Writers Guild of America Awards (2015).

Independent Spirit Award

Independent Spirit Award

Film Independent Spirit Awards

Oscar

Oscar

Academy Awards, USA

BAFTA Film Award

BAFTA Film Award

BAFTA Awards

Wes Anderson Movies

Director

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Previous (4)

2023 |
Asteroid City
Asteroid City
2023
Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
World-changing events spectacularly disrupt the annual Asteroid Day celebration in an American desert town.
2021 |
The French Dispatch
The French Dispatch
2021
Comedy, Drama, Romance
A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city, that brings to life a collection of stories published in "The French Dispatch Magazine".
More Info
2018 |
Isle of Dogs
Isle of Dogs
2018
Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.
More Info
-- |
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Producer

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Previous (4)

2023 |
Asteroid City
Asteroid City
2023
Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
World-changing events spectacularly disrupt the annual Asteroid Day celebration in an American desert town.
2021 |
The French Dispatch
The French Dispatch
2021
Comedy, Drama, Romance
A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city, that brings to life a collection of stories published in "The French Dispatch Magazine".
More Info
2018 |
Isle of Dogs
Isle of Dogs
2018
Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.
More Info
-- |
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Self

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Previous (1)

2024 |
Uncropped
Uncropped
2024
Documentary
UNCROPPED is a portrait of longtime Village Voice photographer James Hamilton, whose work during the heyday of alternative print journalism brilliantly captured some of the most remarkable people and stories of the past half century.

Actor

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Previous (2)

2018 |
Always at The Carlyle
Always at The Carlyle
2018
Documentary
The iconic Carlyle hotel has been an international destination for a particular jet-set as well as a favorite haunt of the most discernible New Yorkers.
asSelf
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Hitchcock/Truffautas Self

Writer

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Previous (4)

2023 |
Asteroid City
Asteroid City
2023
Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
World-changing events spectacularly disrupt the annual Asteroid Day celebration in an American desert town.
2021 |
The French Dispatch
The French Dispatch
2021
Comedy, Drama, Romance
A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city, that brings to life a collection of stories published in "The French Dispatch Magazine".
More Info
2018 |
Isle of Dogs
Isle of Dogs
2018
Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.
More Info
-- |
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Facts About Wes Anderson

Artist Bro: Wes Anderson has used the paintings of his artist-brother, Eric, in several of his films. Buddies for Life: While studying at the University of Texas at Austin, Anderson’s dormmate was Owen Wilson, with whom Anderson worked as both co-writer and cast member in nearly all of his movies. Little Filmmaker: As a kid, Wes Anderson shot movies with his family’s super-8 camera, casting his brothers and friends in roles. Big First Impression: No less than Martin Scorsese named Anderson’s first feature, Bottle Rocket, as one of the best films of the 1990s.