Trivia

When an actor improvises a line on the set, he will almost invariably say something like, "That was great, but could you do it like it's written in the script?" Most Coen brothers films are the same (line for line) when released as they are on the page in the final draft of the script.

The Coen Brothers are noted for their unusual writing process of not only eschewing outlines, but of not even concerning themselves what their story is about or who their characters are before beginning to write their screenplays. They will simply begin writing any scene they think up that they find to be interesting. Then, if they think of an interesting idea for a following scene, they will write that one, and then another, and so on and so forth until they have a first draft, discovering what the story is along the way. Then, they will heavily revise what they have until they feel they have a shootable screenplay. They have noted that because of this, they will often get writer's block around the mid-point of any given screenplay, and will begin another screenplay in the meantime in order to remain productive. For example, the entirety of Barton Fink (1991) was written while they were battling writer's block with Miller's Crossing (1990), and the first 40 pages of The Big Lebowski (1998) were written while they were stuck with Barton Fink (1991).

In the late 1970s, he had a brief marriage, that ended in divorce. His second wife Frances McDormand wears the wedding ring that originally was worn by his first wife, since she felt it shouldn't go to waste.

Directed 7 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Michael Lerner, Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Javier Bardem, Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, and Denzel Washington. McDormand and Bardem won Oscars for their performances in two of his movies.

Works so closely with his brother Ethan Coen that the two of them have been jokingly referred to as "The Two-Headed Director".

He and his wife adopted a baby boy from Paraguay in 1994 and named him Pedro McDormand Coen.

Has won the Cannes prize for Best Director three times, more than any other filmmaker. He won in 1991 for Barton Fink (1991), in 1996 for Fargo (1996) and in 2001 for The Man Who Wasn't There (2001).

Roderick Jaynes, who is credited with editing all of his films, does not, in fact, exist. The name is a pseudonym for Joel and his brother Ethan.

Used to receive sole credit as director for the Coen brothers movies', but has always directed films with his brother Ethan Coen (they also write and produce their films together). This was changed with The Ladykillers (2004), and now they both receive credit for directing and producing.

Only three times in Academy Award history have director-collaborators been nominated for Best Directing Oscars: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story (1961), Warren Beatty and Buck Henry for Heaven Can Wait (1978) and Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men (2007). (Wise/Robbins and the Coens actually won the award).

He (along with his brother Ethan Coen) is part of the prestigious group of individuals to have won Oscars for writing, directing and producing in the same year, for the film No Country for Old Men (2007). The others are Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), James L. Brooks for Terms of Endearment (1983), Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather Part II (1974), Billy Wilder for The Apartment (1960), Alejandro G. Iñárritu for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) and Bong Joon Ho for Parasite (2019). James Cameron also won three Oscars for Titanic (1997), but they were for directing, producing and editing.

When asked what films most influenced him and his brother early on, Joel mentioned Hollywood comedies from the late 50s and early 60s usually critically considered lightweight and inferior, including Boeing, Boeing (1965), A Global Affair (1964), That Touch of Mink (1962) and Pillow Talk (1959). He also claimed that The Guns of Navarone (1961) is his favorite film.

Alumnus of Simon's Rock College, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, along with brother Ethan Coen. This is a fully-accredited college for students who typically enter at the age of 16 - before graduating high school.

He and brother Ethan Coen have had final cut on all of their films since Blood Simple (1984), their debut film.

Both he and his brother Ethan are huge fans of Stanley Kubrick.

In his childhood, he saved money from mowing lawns to buy a Super-8 camera.

He has directed three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998) and No Country for Old Men (2007).

As his brother, he graduated from Simon's Rock Early College in Great Barrington, MA. He later attended New York University's undergraduate film program to finally graduate after four years there.

In the late 60s, Coen, along with younger brother Ethan, shot their own Super 8 version of "Advise and Consent.".

The first Coen brothers film where both he and brother Ethan Coen are given directing and producing credits was The Ladykillers (2004). They have shared these duties on all of their films, but Joel has always been listed as director and Ethan as producer.

Resides in New York City with his family.

He has directed four films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Fargo (1996), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009) and True Grit (2010). No Country for Old Men won in the category. As a writer, he co-wrote the Best Picture nominee Bridge of Spies (2015).

Frequently includes kidnapping-plots in his films.

Has a younger sister named Deborah, who is a psychiatrist.

Born to Edward Coen, an economist at the University of Minnesota, and his wife Rena, an art historian at St. Cloud State University.

Often has a scene that takes place in dark areas with a sense of dark humor. In The Big Lebowski (1998), The Dude talks to Jeffery Lebowski in a dark room with fire; In O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Devil's henchmen capture Pete with thunder in the background; In Intolerable Cruelty (2003), Miles meets with Myerson in the dark room with only a glare of light showing Myerson's face; In Fargo (1996), Shep starts beating up Carl in a dim-lighted room.

Ranked #88 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List with brother Ethan Coen. They had been ranked #92 in 2002.

Brother-in-law of Tricia Cooke.

His mother, Rena Neumann Coen, died of kidney disease in 2001.