The director Austin Butler calls “my absolute hero”
Despite being just 32 years of age, Austin Butler is already an Academy Award-nominated actor who has worked with some of the most notable auteurs in the industry, a list that includes Jim Jarmusch, Quentin Tarantino, Baz Luhrmann, Jeff Nichols, and Denis Villeneuve.
However, as evidenced by the outpouring of praise lavished in the direction of one filmmaker in particular, Butler would do anything to be welcomed into the fold by an acclaimed writer and director to have developed a reputation for keeping an inner circle of regular collaborators close.
Whether it’s costume designer Mark Bridges, composer Jonny Greenwood, editor Dylan Tichenor, producers JoAnn Sellar and Daniel Lupi, or on-camera talents John C. Reilly, Melora Walters, and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, Anderson has worked with all of those names at least four times during his career.
That being said, based on the way in which he described Anderson to A.Frame, Butler would be more than happy to do it just once: “Paul Thomas Anderson is my absolute hero, and there’s nothing that he’s done that I haven’t felt like a kid in a candy store when I get to experience his work,” he said. “I could easily say There Will be Blood or Punch-Drunk Love or Boogie Nights or Phantom Thread or so many films.”
His clear and obvious fandom aside, though, there’s one Anderson masterpiece in particular that had a profound impact on Butler from the very first time he saw it: “Magnolia was my first experience of really falling in love with one of PTA’s films,” he continued. “It’s such a feat to be able to bring all those characters together into one story. And I think it’s one of Tom Cruise’s best performances.”
In fact, Butler’s dedication to all things Magnolia runs so deep that he can even recite behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the top of his head, noting: “The story that I heard was that Tom Cruise came in and had sort of rewritten that monologue.” As a result, “Philip Seymour Hoffman said that he was actually crying in that moment because he was so moved by what Tom was doing.”
The ensemble are all phenomenal across the board, in fairness, with Butler left in awe by the work put in by everyone involved: “It’s just amazing the performances that he’s able to capture in that film; William Macy, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Julianne Moore, and John C. Reilly,” before remarking on Magnolia as a whole being “such an inspiring feat in the art of cinema”.
Anderson may have inexplicably failed to win an Academy Award as of yet despite notching 11 nominations across four different categories over the span of 24 years, but as Butler puts it: “I feel so privileged to be alive at the same time that Paul Thomas Anderson is alive.” If that doesn’t get him at least an audition some day in the future, then maybe nothing will.
