Paul Thomas Anderson turns 44 today, and while our invitation to the party got lost in the mail, there are still a few reasons to celebrate. Firstly, he’s got his new movie, "Inherent Vice," coming at the end of year and if somehow you missed one of his six features to date, they are all must-sees and worth re-watching too. But in case you need more, we’ve got something for you.
Here’s a 20-minute talk from 1998 with PTA, where he’s discussing his sophomore feature and breakout movie, "Boogie Nights." He talks a lot about the porn industry, putting together the sprawling feature, the scene he wrote for Don Cheadle‘s Buck that he didn’t film, how he wanted to see Forrest Gump have sex and more.
But perhaps the most fascinating anecdote is about his first film "Hard Eight" aka "Sydney." PTA reveals that while battling with Rysher Entertainment over the cut of the movie, he submitted his work print version to the Cannes Film Festival where it was accepted in Un Certain Regard. And while it did eventually screen, Rysher initially told him he couldn’t go.
The entire talk is pretty great stuff, so check it out below.