Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, One Battle After Another, has begun its theatrical run worldwide, and if the initial reviews are any indication, the film is going to be another PTA classic. The stellar cast of the film recently sat down to have a conversation about working with the director and how his brand of filmmaking was so attractive that some of them didn’t even bother reading the script before saying yes to them.
Shared on Mayhem Mendes’ YouTube channel, the video includes almost everyone from the main cast. Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays the character of Bob in the film, started the interview off by saying, “Paul Thomas Anderson, more than anything, as a filmmaker, has been such a unique and profound voice of his generation. There are so few directors who have an unexpected way of tackling different subjects, and there is always such a mystery and intrigue and an element of the unknown with his films and characters. He brought me this film, and it was something he was working on for 10 years. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to work with him.”
While it seemed that Leo had finally got rid of his PTA fever, Benicio Del Toro still looked infected and was almost giddy while talking about the director. He said, “Three words: Paul Thomas Anderson. I mean, he just came to me and said, ‘Hey, I got a script; I got a part that I want you to play.’ You don’t read it; I didn’t read it. I showed up and said, ‘Hey, what are we doing? Let’s do it.’”
Regina Hall added to that and said, “I could say it was a film about action, drama, and comedy; it’s just all three. I have to specifically say that it is a Paul Thomas Anderson film because his way of storytelling is so unique that all his work has that brand to it, and you can tell the moment you see it that it is his film.” Sean Penn shared his two cents about Anderson and said, “The freedom with which he writes is exciting. It has a lot of shifts in tone and great characteristics all the way down the line. It was a page-turner, and I think I called Paul right away and said, ‘Where do I go?’”
Teyana Taylor, who plays Perfidia, stated that working with Anderson feels “like home”, because the director chooses to work with people with whom he has been working for decades.
