Cast & creator
Joel Coen
Best known for Fargo, Film '72, The Oscars
Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) is an American filmmaker, working with his brother, Ethan Coen, together known as the Coen brothers(/ˈkoʊən/). Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). The brothers generally write, direct and produce their films jointly. However, due to regulations, Joel received sole directing credit while Ethan received sole production credit until The Ladykillers (2004). From then on, they would be credited as directors and producers and shared editing credits under the alias Roderick Jaynes. The duo started directing separately in the 2020s, resulting in Joel's The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), Ethan's Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind (2022) and Drive-Away Dolls (2024). Together, they have been nominated for 13 Academy Awards and one individual nomination. They share Best Original Screenplay for Fargo and Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for No Country for Old Men. They won the Palme d'Or for Barton Fink at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. The Coens have written films for other directors, including Sam Raimi's Crimewave (1985), Angelina Jolie's World War II biopic Unbroken (2014) and Steven Spielberg's Cold War drama Bridge of Spies (2015). They produced Terry Zwigoff's Bad Santa (2003) and John Turturro's Romance and Cigarettes (2005). Ethan is also a writer of short stories, theatre and poetry. They are known for their distinctive stylistic trademarks, including genre hybridity. No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man and Inside Llewyn Davis was included in the BBC's 2016 poll of the greatest motion pictures since 2000. In 1998, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Fargo among the 100 greatest American movies. Richard Corliss wrote of the Coens: "Dexterously flipping and reheating old movie genres like so many pancakes, they serve them fresh, not with syrup but with a coating of comic arsenic." Description above from the Wikipedia article Coen brothers, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Also known as: Roderick Jaynes, 조엘 데이비드 코엔, Joel David Coen, 科恩兄弟, جوئل کوئن
117
film credits
7
television credits
30
1953–2025 · acting roles
6.9
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (124)
Showing 124 of 124 credits
Fargo
Executive Producer
2014Film '72
Self
1971
The Oscars
Self
1953
No Country for Old Men
Producer
2007No Country for Old Men
Director
2007No Country for Old Men
Editor
2007No Country for Old Men
Writer
2007
The Shape of Water
Thanks
2017
The Big Lebowski
Director
1998The Big Lebowski
Editor
1998The Big Lebowski
Writer
1998
The Evil Dead
Assistant Editor
1983
Fargo
Director
1996Fargo
Editor
1996Fargo
Writer
1996
Bridge of Spies
Writer
2015
HBO First Look
1992
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Director
2000O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Editor
2000O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Writer
2000
Eddington
Thanks
2025
Inside Llewyn Davis
Director
2013Inside Llewyn Davis
Producer
2013Inside Llewyn Davis
Writer
2013Inside Llewyn Davis
Editor
2013Inside Llewyn Davis
Songs
2013
True Grit
Screenplay
2010True Grit
Director
2010True Grit
Producer
2010True Grit
Editor
2010
Hail, Caesar!
Writer
2016Hail, Caesar!
Director
2016Hail, Caesar!
Editor
2016Hail, Caesar!
Producer
2016
Unbroken
Screenplay
2014
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Director
2018The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Producer
2018The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Editor
2018The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Writer
2018
Leçon de Cinéma
Self
2004
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Producer
2021The Tragedy of Macbeth
Screenplay
2021The Tragedy of Macbeth
Editor
2021The Tragedy of Macbeth
Director
2021
Burn After Reading
Producer
2008Burn After Reading
Director
2008Burn After Reading
Editor
2008Burn After Reading
Writer
2008
Raising Arizona
Director
1987Raising Arizona
Screenplay
1987
The Hudsucker Proxy
Director
1994The Hudsucker Proxy
Writer
1994
Blood Simple
Director
1985Blood Simple
Writer
1985Blood Simple
Editor
1985
The Ladykillers
Director
2004The Ladykillers
Producer
2004The Ladykillers
Screenplay
2004The Ladykillers
Editor
2004
Miller's Crossing
Screenplay
1990Miller's Crossing
Director
1990
A Serious Man
Writer
2009A Serious Man
Editor
2009A Serious Man
Director
2009A Serious Man
Producer
2009
Intolerable Cruelty
Editor
2003Intolerable Cruelty
Director
2003Intolerable Cruelty
Screenplay
2003
Bad Santa
Executive Producer
2003
The Man Who Wasn't There
Director
2001The Man Who Wasn't There
Editor
2001The Man Who Wasn't There
Writer
2001The Man Who Wasn't There
Producer
2001
Paris Je T'aime
Director
2006Paris Je T'aime
Writer
2006
Suburbicon
Writer
2017
Barton Fink
Editor
1991Barton Fink
Director
1991Barton Fink
Screenplay
1991
Spies Like Us
Drive-In Security
1985
The Grey Zone
Thanks
2001
Darkman
Oldsmobile Driver (uncredited)
1990
American Cinema
Self
1994
To Each His Own Cinema
Director
2007To Each His Own Cinema
Writer
2007
Gambit
Writer
2012
Romance & Cigarettes
Executive Producer
2006Independent Focus
Self
1998
Inside 'Inside Llewyn Davis'
Self
2014
Winona Ryder: The Ghosts She Called
Self
2022
The Jesus Rolls
Characters
2019
The Coen Brothers Story
Self
2025
Crimewave
Reporter at execution (uncredited)
1985Crimewave
Writer
1985
Eye of God
Thanks
1997
The Coen Brothers
Self
2000
Eight
Thanks
1998
Waffles and Bullet Holes: A Return to Sioux Falls
Executive Producer
2016
Down from the Mountain
Self
2001Down from the Mountain
Executive Producer
2001
The Way of Folk
Self
2016The Way of Folk
Thanks
2016
The Making of 'The Big Lebowski'
Self
1998
Minnesota Nice
Self
2003
Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of 'Inside Llewyn Davis'
Producer
2013
Behind the Scenes of 'No Country for Old Men': An Incredibly Unauthorized Documentary
Self
2008
Stephen King's World of Horror
Self
1989
A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop
Original Story
2009
A Special Day
Self
2012Making "The Man Who Wasn't There"
Self
2002Jack of Spades
Director
Jack of Spades
Editor
Jack of Spades
Producer
Jack of Spades
Screenplay
The Making of 'No Country for Old Men'
Self - Writer/Director
2008DC Insiders Run Amuck
Self
2008
The Bend in the River
Executive Producer
2025Shooting 'Blood Simple'
Self
2016The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet
Self
2015A Look Inside 'Intolerable Cruelty
Self
2004Blood Simple: A Conversation with Dave Eggers
Self
2016Inside Look: Down from the Mountain
Self
2000Finding the Burn
Self
2008Welcome Back, George
Self
2008