One of the most memorable podcasts we listened to last year was an episode of the A24 podcast cheekily titled “Seduce and Destroy.” Therein, “Uncut Gems” directors Josh and Benny Safdie sat down to chat with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson about Darius Khondji, the magic of Adam Sandler, and the lasting influence that “Punch-Drunk Love” had on the Safdies when they were young. If nothing else, it was a terrific opportunity to hear two pioneers of the cinematic new guard soak up some game from a seasoned master, and it offered proof that perhaps the Safdies and P.T.A. had more in common than anyone could have anticipated.
READ MORE: The Safdie Brothers And Paul Thomas Anderson Talk Darius Khondji And ‘Uncut Gems’
Today, via set photos (via Just Jared and the Film Stage), it appears that the acting-half of the Safdies, Benny Safdie, who also co-starred in “Good Time” alongside Robert Pattinson, has been cast in a supporting role in Anderson’s upcoming new movie. Currently shooting under the reported working title of “Soggy Bottom,” the film is said to be set in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley in the 1970s and centers on a high school student who is also a child actor. Bradley Cooper stars and it’s currently unknown who the child actor is being played by.
The younger Safdie brother is no stranger to acting: his devastating performance in the aforementioned “Good Time” was the emotional nucleus of that film, and he stole his few scenes in Dustin Guy Defa’s indie charmer, “Person to Person.” Suffice to say, Safdie stepping into a Paul Thomas Anderson ensemble is quite the prospect, and for obvious reasons, it’s one we couldn’t be more jazzed about.
READ MORE: Bradley Cooper To Star In Paul Thomas Anderson’s New 1970s SoCal Film
According to the images and the Twitter user who posted them, which appear to confirm some of the rumors swirling around the film, Safdie will be a playing a Los Angeles politician, who may or may not be inspired by L.A. City Council member Joel Wachs. Wachs was a “closeted gay man until he was preparing to run for mayor in 1999 at the age of sixty,” according to a 2001 New York Times story about him becoming the president of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York City. It’s unclear how big Safdies role in the movie will be or if the part is just a cameo.
Some have speculated that Anderson’s next film may be more expansive than that aforementioned high school student/child actor character description story suggests and could take on Robert Altman or Hal Ashby-esque dimension, but that remains to be seen. As many have noted, Cooper’s character appears to be modeled after Jon Peters, a film producer who produced the 1970s version of “A Star is Born” with Barbra Streisand. Further speculatively, Haim band member, Alana Haim, who also has a role in the film, has a look from set photos that has been compared to Streisand. Who knows. Lack of information certainly breeds lots of speculation and theories.
In any case, the addition of an awesome talent like Benny Safdie to Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest gives us all a little something to be excited about. If you missed that initial podcast conversation last year, this feels like the perfect opportunity to dig into it now, no?
