Inteview: Museum of the Moving Image

Museum of the Moving Image, Queens NY
December 2007

Listen to the talk here.



A PINEWOOD DIALOGUE WITH DANIEL DAY-LEWIS AND PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON

Daniel Day-Lewis’s magnificent performance as the ambitious and ruthless oil tycoon Daniel Plainview is at the core of Paul Thomas Anderson’s critically acclaimed movie There Will be Blood. In this discussion, which followed a Museum of the Moving Image preview screening of the film, the actor and director playfully and thoughtfully discussed their intense collaborative process.

The Dirk Diggler Story (1988)

A 31 minute short film shot by Paul when he was just seventeen years old. It was written and shot like a Spinal Tap documentary about the rise and fall of Dirk Diggler.  It was shot on video and edited VCR to VCR. His dad narrated it (like an E! Hollywood true story). Mike Stein (a good friend who also had a small role in Boogie Nights) played Dirk Diggler. Bob Ridgely (The Colonel) played Jack Horner. The length was about 30 minutes. Rewritten as a full length movie when he was about 19-20 in the same vein but decided that the "Spinal Tap" thing was played out.