Paul Thomas Anderson has finally spoken in depth about his new movie The Master. The movie has seemingly been shrouded in secrecy, throughout its production schedule, fuelling rumours that the tale of the formation of a cult in the US is based on the rise of the Church of Scientology. When he was asked if the project was overshadowed by the pressures and influence of Scientology, however, he stated "Each film has its own sets of challenges. Scientology was the least of our problems," Screen Daily reports.
The There Will Be Blood director then added: "We're living in an age when if someone gets a whiff of what you're doing it gets speculated about more than anticipated. When you hear that chatter it can get mildly frustrating. But now it seems that people are seeing the film and realising it isn't about Scientology." Anderson was joined by Joaquin Phoenix, who plays the role of Freddie Quell. Though Phoenix refrained from speaking much during the panel discussion at Venice Film Festival, Anderson spoke a little about the actor taking the 'method' approach to the role.
When asked how they came up with the unusual posture for the character, Anderson explained "He just started standing like that. I thought it was great. It was his idea. He's incredibly inventive. You never know what he's going to do. I would say 'tell me the far left and right of what you might do'. I think it comes from Joaquin spending a lot of his career trying to stand up straight".