Biography: Paul Thomas Anderson

by Samantha Bodette

Paul Thomas Anderson was born on June 26, 1970 in Studio City California. He is the son of Ernie Anderson who is well known for hi D.J.ing and voice over work. At a young age Paul Thomas Anderson showed high interest in filmmaking and his father, Ernie, encourages Paul to pursue a career in it. Before he began his career in filmmaking Paul Thomas Anderson attended Buckley school, which he would be kicked out of for poor grades. On his return home he made his first short film, Coffee and Cigarettes. It’s a story of the connection of 5 people through a 20 dollar bill. This movie was used for Anderson’s first feature film Hard Eight. Hard Eight received generally positive reviews and helped put Anderson on the map. The following year Anderson released his next big hit Boogie Nights which featured Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, and Burt Reynolds. Despite being known as the movie that revived Burt Reynolds career, his thoughts on Paul Thomas Anderson were less than positive. In one interview Burt Reynolds stated that Anderson was “young and full of himself” and his ideas were not “original.” Despite Burt Reynolds opinion New Line Cinema’s thought differently. They enjoyed Boogie Nights so much that they gave Anderson free reign over his next film and granted him complete creative control. Magnolia was the film that Anderson created. Despite a major struggle to gain recognition in the box office, the film Magnolia was nominated for 3 academy awards and Anderson refers to it as “the best movie I’ll ever make.” Both films Magnolia and Boogie Nights put Paul Thomas Anderson out as a wunderkid.  In 2007 Anderson made the film There Will be Blood which was loosely based on Upton Sinclairs novel Oil! The film received 8 Academy Award nominations. Anderson was nominated for Best Director from the Directors Guild of America. Some critics believe that There Will be Blood is one of the greatest films of the decade and one of the most accomplished films of the modern era. Some referred to it as “one of the most wholly original American movies ever made.” Paul Thomas Anderson’s most recent piece of work is Junun, a 54 minute documentary based on the making of the album of the same name by artists Jonny Greenwood, Shye Ben Rur, and other various musicians. 

Paul Thomas Anderson has said that people such as Stanley Kubrick, Orson Wells, Martin Scorsese, Max Ophuls, Jonathan Demme, and Richard Altman as a source of inspiration. A common theme in Anderson’s films is dysfunctional families, surrogate families, alienation, regret, loneliness, destiny, forgiveness, and being haunted by the past. Paul Thomas Anderson is known to work with actors and actresses on multiple occasions. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman, Phillip Bake Hall,  Melora Walters, and John C. Reily are all actors who have been in a number of his films. Between the late 90’s and early 00’s Anderson dated musician Fiona Apple. During this time Anderson collaborated with Apple on many of her music videos. Anderson also worked with musicians Michael Penn, Aimme Mann, Jon Brion, and Joanna Newson. 

Anderson has been nominated for a number of films, winning a majority for his directing on his 2007 movie There Will be Blood. Over his career he himself has been nominated for six Academy Awards. The Guardian ranked him number 1 in the “The 23 Best Film Directors in the World.” Rolling Stone Magazine refers to Anderson as a “rockstar, the artist who knows no limits.” Today Anderson in living in San Fernando Valley with his wife comedian Maya Rudolf and their four children.