Other notable francophiles include actors Bradley Cooper, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bill Maher, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, Molly Ringwald, Steven Gabrielle and Robert Crawford. The director and actor Woody Allen is a Francophile whose films often made references to French cinema, philosophy and novels. A recurring theme in Allen's films is the celebration of Paris as the ideal place for romantic love. Allen's 1982 film "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" frequently pays homage to the work of Jean Renoir while Allen has described François Truffaut as his favorite director. The Francophile hero of Allen's 2011 film "Midnight in Paris" Gil Pender bears striking similarities with Allen, leading to reviewers to suggest that the character of Pender is a stand-in for the director-writer.