Interview: "Paul Thomas Anderson - Young And Breathless"

Independent UK, Writer Credit Unknown
January 24th, 2003


Paul Thomas Anderson is as idiosyncratic as his movies (Boogie Nights, Magnolia and now Punch-Drunk Love). He tells Charlotte O'Sullivan about the woman of his dreams – and why he fell out with Burt Reynolds

When actresses talk about a director they've just worked with, they tend to say things like, "It was an honour. I feel so lucky..." When I call Emily Watson to ask about Paul Thomas Anderson, the word she reaches for is "bonkers". She's used to odd men, having worked with Lars von Trier on Breaking The Waves. "Lars was more crazy," she concedes. But don't let that fool you. The 33-year-old San Fernando Valley auteur is "quite screwed up".