1. Martin Scorsese and Joaquin Phoenix
Martin Scorsese's most famous central characters - Travis Bickle, Jake LaMotta, Rupert Pupkin - are all lonely, tortured, agonised souls prone to extreme fits of violence. Joaquin Phoenix in his portrayals of Johnny Cash in Walk the Line and Freddie Quell in The Master displayed that description with masterful precision. Phoenix is very similar to a young Robert De Niro in the way that he can make a thoroughly unlikable person incredibly sympathetic and be seen as a victim of circumstance rather than a villain. Scorsese has always been a great director of actors. He's worked with the very best the industry has to offer including the aforementioned De Niro as well as Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Harvey Keitel and Paul Newman. To add Phoenix to that illustrious list would be salivating for any fan of cinema. Phoenix, much like Nicholson, is something of a wild beast and Scorsese did a brilliant job of letting Nicholson do his own thing on The Departed without going to over the top. Phoenix is very much a psychological actor and working with Scorsese would be a great opportunity for the great director to return to his more intimate roots which have somewhat escaped him over the last decade.