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| Thu. 07 07. 2005 5:31 PM EDT
The Wild Bunch: Wilson and Vaughn's Funny Friends
Five years ago, the notion of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in something called The Wedding Crashers certainly didn't sound like the formula for a hit summer comedy. The loud-mouthed Vaughn had ill-advisedly slipped into Norman Bates' skin for
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a bomb Psycho remake and Wilson's crooked nose was only familiar to art house audiences. But with some canny connections and memorable cameos, the mismatched pair has become central to Hollywood's hottest clique of comics. The Wedding Crashers proves that they're damn funny on their own, but watch closely: they're always inviting their pals to drop in. Here are some of Vince and Owen's bestest buds.

  • Ben Stiller
    Stiller was bowled over by Owen Wilson's performance in 1996's indie Bottle Rocket, so he cast him in the haute couture comedy Zoolander, which grew out of a sketch he did for VH1. He met Vince Vaughn filming a Titanic spoof for an MTV awards ceremony. Out of such small-screen origins is a comic triumvirate born: Stiller, Wilson and Vaughn have all starred together in both Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and Starsky & Hutch.

  • Will Ferrell
    The ex-sportscaster successfully lifted himself out of Saturday Night Live vehicle hell (anybody remember him in Superstar or The Ladies Man?) to become Hollywood's pre-eminent comedian. His big break was being cast by Ben Stiller in Zoolander. Since then, he's appeared with Vaughn and Wilson in Starsky & Hutch and Vaughn made a hilarious appearance as a rival newsman in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

  • Luke Wilson
    Wilson
    first appeared with his brother Owen in director Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket. The Texan trio reprised their team-up with Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. He finally took the spotlight himself as the ringleader in 2003's Old School, which co-starred Vince Vaughn as his hard-partying bud. Wilson's latest project is The Wendell Baker Story, co-written with brother Owen and co-directed with brother Andrew.

  • Jason Bateman
    The former TV teen heart-throb turned Arrested Development mainstay has twice turned up opposite both Vaughn and Wilson. In Starsky & Hutch, he was Vaughn's jittery accomplice, all sweat-stains and bad moustache. In Dodgeball, he provided the hilarious color commentary with fellow small-screen refugee Gary "Midnight Caller" Cole for the ball-crunching showdown between Vaughn and Stiller.

  • Steve Carell
    A vet of Chicago's Second City troupe -- whose alumni includes Mike Myers and Chris Farley -- Carell became a popular correspondent for Comedy Central's The Daily Show. He's since become a familiar foil to Will Ferrell, appearing opposite him (and Vaughn) in Anchorman and doing his best Paul Lynde as Uncle Arthur in Bewitched. Next up: the title role in this summer's The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

  • Jon Favreau
    Favreau was a burly Queens, N.Y., kid who also went to Chicago to cut his comic teeth, this time with the ImprovOlympic team. He made his mark in Hollywood by writing and starring in the 1996 indie hit Swingers, which starred ImprovOlympic vet Vince Vaughn as his brash friend. Favreau also directed Vaughn in Made, but following clashes with Will Farrell over the hit Elf, may be out of the inner circle.