Paul Thomas Anderson Reveals His Greatest Acting Discovery
A legendary filmmaker opens up about the one performer who changed everything, sharing intimate details about their creative partnership that produced some of cinema's most unforgettable moments.
Some artistic losses cut deeper than others. Music lost giants like Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Amy Winehouse far too early. Cinema has fewer such tragedies, but Heath Ledger, James Gandolfini, and Philip Seymour Hoffman rank among the most devastating.
Hoffman died at just 46 in his West Village apartment in 2014, succumbing to a drug overdose. Yet his body of work rivals any screen performer in history. The master of supporting roles moved effortlessly between indie darlings and big-budget crowd-pleasers.
From Blockbusters to Art House Gems
Hoffman kept the lights on with mainstream hits like Twister and Mission Impossible III. But critics celebrated his work in challenging projects like Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York and the Adam Sandler vehicle Punch-Drunk Love.
Paul Thomas Anderson directed that latter film. Since breaking through with 1997's Boogie Nights, Anderson has crafted undeniable classics while maintaining artistic independence. His recent Golden Globe winner One Battle After Another proves he's still operating at peak form.
A Creative Partnership for the Ages
Anderson cast Hoffman in five pictures: Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Punch-Drunk Love, Magnolia, and 2012's The Master. Speaking with Esquire a year before his death, Hoffman praised Anderson's talent-spotting abilities.
"Paul Thomas Anderson is incomparable. People who are honest about their humanity can do that," Hoffman said. "I think Paul's honest about who humans are. I think you gotta have an honesty and a humility about human nature and that it's not about you at the end of the day. He knows what he's good at. That's the thing about Paul. And what he's good at he's better at than probably anybody."
The Master: A Swan Song
The Master earned less at the box office than Anderson's other films but stands among his finest achievements. Both Joaquin Phoenix and Hoffman received Oscar nominations, along with Amy Adams for Best Supporting Actress.
This period drama explored cults, PTSD, and Thomas Pynchon's literary influence. Critics immediately drew parallels to Scientology. Anderson considers it his best work to date.
The Master became one of Hoffman's final major performances. He completed just four more films after its 2012 release. Anderson's next project remains unannounced, though One Battle After Another looks poised for Oscar success in March. The director won Best Director at the Golden Globes, with the film taking Best Comedy or Musical. Teyana Taylor claimed Best Supporting Actress, and Anderson's screenplay adaptation of Pynchon's 1990 novel Vineland earned another trophy.