Things have been pretty quiet on the Paul Thomas Anderson front and his new untitled religion picture, affectionately known as “The Master” by fans.
Loosely — or not so loosely — based on the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard (read our review of a very early draft of the script), we know that Philip Seymour Hoffman will play the messianic lead, Jeremy Renner will play Freddie Sutton, the drifter character that becomes The Master’s right hand man, and we know that Universal passed on the project and River Road is footing the bill (the company that produced Terrence Malick’s “Tree Of Life” and Doug Liman’s “Fair Game”; Honcho Bill Pohlad is also an investor in distributor Apparition, so don’t be surprised if the film ends up there).
Now comes a few more details from the latest issue of Production Weekly. According to their intel, Reese Witherspoon has been offered a role in the picture and the production is eyeing a June start date. Producing is John Lesher, Pohlad and Jo Anne Sellar.
June is next week if it actually starts on the first. Could the production really be this ready to go and no one’s really reported that yet?
Zero further details are given, but we would assume that if Witherspoon takes a role, it’s that of the Master’s daughter wife Mary-Sue, who acts as his caretakers and vigilant lieutenant. Witherspoon is also attached to McG’s “This Means War,” which is supposed to start shooting in July, so that could be a potential conflict if she even agrees to the role (she’s also currently shooting “Water For Elephants”). However, all of the daughters’ roles in the draft that floated around earlier this year were pretty tiny. Sure, it was an early script and things must have certainly changed, but we can’t imagine it’s been completely deconstructed.
There is one small role of a prostitute who also hooks up with Renner’s character, but that role, while reoccurring throughout, does feel pretty small too. Witherspoon can be pretty commanding when she needs to be — her company is called Type A productions after all — and some have joked she’s not that far removed from the Tracy Flick character she portrayed in “Election,” so we think she would be pretty good for the key daughter who oversees her father’s business and best interests.
But again, it is just an offer. She could easily turn it down, there were some salacious bits with the daughter in that early draft, we’ll just have to wait and see and hope this report uncovers more info.
