One Movie After Another: Paul Thomas Anderson’s Casting Director Tells All

Paul Thomas Anderson is so accustomed to working with the same people on movie after movie that his Wikipedia entry has a special chart devoted to his frequent collaborators, ranging from actors Luis Guzmán and Philip Baker Hall and editor Leslie Jones (three movies each) to costume designer Mark Bridges and casting director Cassandra Kulukundis, credited with nine collaborations each.

But when it comes to Kulukundis, Wikipedia is wrong: She’s actually worked on all 10 of Anderson’s movies, from 1996’s “Hard Eight” to “One Battle After Another” almost three decades later. (She was an unpaid intern on “Hard Eight” and figures it was a matter of “no dollars, no payroll, no credit.”) And now that she’s a nominee in the first-ever Best Casting category, Kulukundis — whose non-PTA movies include “The Brutalist” and “Her” — sat down with TheWrap to reminisce about the collaboration.

“Hard Eight” (1996)

Anderson’s first film, made when he was in his mid-20s, is a crime drama starring Philip Baker Hall as an aging gambler, John C. Reilly as a homeless man who becomes his protégé, Gwyneth Paltrow as a waitress and hooker and Samuel L. Jackson as a security guard. Future PTA regulars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Melora Walters appear in small roles.

I went in for an interview (with producer John Lyons). He was having a conversation with somebody and there was a little confusion. I didn’t want to interject, so I just started laughing. And he was like, “What’s so funny?” I said, “I’m so sorry, but you guys realize you’re talking about two different actors, right? You’re talking about James Cromwell and he’s talking about James Rebhorn.” And he looked at me and said, “When can you start?”

I was working in the Myrna Loy building on the Sony lot, doing whatever needed to be done and soaking it all up like a sponge. I’d never been on a lot before in my life, and I’d only been there a few days before some guy walked into the office and looked at me. He goes, “You’re new.” And I thought, You’re rude. And then the next thing I knew, I was called in to help out in that meeting. And that was Mr. Paul Thomas Anderson.

“Boogie Nights” (1997) 

Based on Anderson’s 1988 short “The Dirk Diggler Story”, “Boogie Nights” was a huge step up in budget ($15 million, five times as much as “Hard Eight”), in scale and in visibility. Burt Reynolds, who was reluctant to portray a veteran porn director and didn’t get along with Anderson, was nominated for an Oscar, as was Julianne Moore for playing Amber Waves, an adult-film actress who becomes the surrogate mother to a group of misfits working in pornography in the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s. Kulukundis is credited as a casting associate.

It was absolutely huge compared to “Hard Eight,” and the script was the most incredible thing. I was working on a movie that was going nowhere, and somebody who didn’t like it asked me to read the “Boogie Nights” script to see what I thought. I think I got 10 or 12 pages into it before I went to that person and said, “I’m not coming back to work until I finish the script. And then I will come back and tell you why you need to work on it.” I read every word, came back and said, “I will clean the butt cans on this movie.” (Laughs) There used to be cans full of cigarette butts all around the set.

My family was not happy that I was doing something like this. But to this day, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this movie. I think it’s about a dysfunctional family, and about the flaws of people and what makes them still human. I love every single one of those characters. And it brought me to my first porn set. I mean, wow. I had such a great crash-course education on that one.

“Magnolia” (1999)

The first film for which Kulukundis received a “casting by” credit is this panoramic, multi-character odyssey once again set in the Valley. The $35 million-plus drama stars PTA regulars Moore, Hall, Reilly and Walters, along with Jason Robards and Tom Cruise, who earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for playing a charismatic and misogynistic motivational speaker. Storylines crisscross throughout the three-hour movie, and at the end frogs fall from the sky.

When I got the script, there were already 108 speaking roles. It was full of heartbreak and redemption and remorse and family. It was overwhelming, but in a great, exciting way.

I brought (theater, film and TV actress) Harriet (Sansom) Harris in for “Magnolia” and she was so great. I had her coming in to read for two parts, and then Paul threw her a third (part) in the room. He said, “I don’t know which part to give you. Let me think on this. You’re fricking amazing, and you’re definitely gonna get one of these parts.” She got none of the parts. (Laughs) I still don’t know what happened. I brought her in years later for “Phantom Thread,” and Paul didn’t remember the “Magnolia” thing.

I also tried to steal one of those frogs. They were awesome.

“Punch-Drunk Love” (2002)

Anderson did a little downsizing after “Magnolia” with this 95-minute, $25 million twisted romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler as the owner of a novelty gift company who is constantly tortured by his seven sisters. Sandler won raves for his performance, a rarity for the comic actor at the time, and Anderson was named Best Director by the Cannes jury.

I remember the “Punch-Drunk Love” sisters! Paul has sisters and I have brothers. In some ways we’re like brother and sister — I’m like the sister he definitely doesn’t need, and he’s the brother I don’t want ’cause I’m already full up.

He was like, “What if we just find real people, a real family?” We got this whole group, and most of them really were related. And we just, like, unleashed them. Poor Adam Sandler. We said, “Go at him,” and they just wouldn’t stop.

And it was funny because the first time non-actors come to set, they’re all excited and everything’s great. By the third time they came to set, they were like, “Why is our trailer so small?” It was amazing to watch how fast that happened.

“There Will Be Blood” (2007)

If “Punch-Drunk Love” is PTA going small, “There Will Be Blood” is the opposite. While its budget remained about $25 million for a shoot largely around Marfa, Texas, this monumental two-and-a-half-hour epic stars Daniel Day-Lewis in an Oscar-winning performance as a ruthless oilman in early-20th-century California. Recently, it was also the subject of controversy when Quentin Tarantino said on a podcast that the film’s “giant flaw” is the performance by Paul Dano, who was cast in a smaller part but took over the key role of a preacher after the original actor was dismissed two weeks into shooting.

I was looking for a kid to play the young H.W. (the adopted son of Day-Lewis’ character), and the mother of one boy called me before I even got to Texas and said, “I have your H.W.” A lot of people call and tell me that, but she was adamant, so I said I would meet him. I went to his school and met him and he was definitely promising, so I made a date to go to his mother’s house later that day. I went to one more school before going to her place, and I was speeding and got pulled over by a state trooper. She looked at my license and said, “Are you working on a movie?” I said yes, and she said, “You’re coming to my house!” I was like, “Oh, great. Can I not get this ticket?” And she let me go. (Her son, Dillon Freasier, got the part.)

Paul Dano had no notice to do this movie. Daniel was working on his character for two years. Paul was working on it for two days. I gave him some research on Pentecostal churches, and he just dove in. I read hundreds of young men for that role. I guarantee you Paul was hands down the absolute best. And I think if he had more than two days, he would’ve been nominated for an Academy Award.

“The Master” (2012)

Hoffman’s fifth and final film with Anderson stars the actor as Lancaster Dodd, the charismatic leader of a Scientology-like movement, and Joaquin Phoenix as a Navy vet who falls under his spell. Hoffman died of complications from a drug overdose less than 18 months after the movie’s release, and Christopher Evan Welch, who played a man challenging Dodd’s beliefs at a party, died of lung cancer two months earlier. Kulukundis teared up when she began discussing the film.

It’s such an incredible scene when they go at each other, but it’s weird for me when I think about that scene now, because both Christopher Welch and Phil are gone. That was a reshoot, actually. We had another actor there and it just wasn’t right. The first scene was more dark and spooky, and Paul wanted to go in a totally different direction. And this time the girls, instead of wearing dark clothing, they were wearing pale clothing. Those women were amazing — my little group that was so much fun to hang out with.

Joaquin’s so funny in that scene, too. I mean, Joaquin was just so in it the whole time. He was barely eating. I think he’d eat an apple and some of a bag of lettuce on Monday and wouldn’t eat the rest of the time. He got so emaciated.

“Inherent Vice” (2014)

In many ways Anderson’s most perplexing movie, Inherent Vice is a shaggy black comedy based on Thomas Pynchon’s dense 2009 novel. It stars Phoenix, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Joanna Newsom and others as a motley collection of Southern California stoners, hippies and drifters in 1970, plus Josh Brolin as a cop nicknamed Bigfoot.

A lot of the crew tried to read the book, and it was not easy. Some people had it on tape, but that didn’t make it any better. (Laughs) I think it’s Paul’s most misunderstood film.

Fricking Josh Brolin is amazing. That’s a funny story, because Paul had me reading people who were 6-foot-3 and above. He was like, “Bigfoot’s this big guy.” Mike Shannon did a reading for us and he was so good in that reading. But when it came time to shoot the movie, he wasn’t available. I think Mike still hates me for that.

Then Thomas Pynchon made an offhand comment to Paul, saying, “Oh yeah, the real Bigfoot was 5-foot-7.” Paul came to me like, “You’re not gonna believe this…” And I said, “Can I read Josh Brolin now?” But Josh was leaving to go on a surf holiday with his buddies to Costa Rica in a couple of hours. So Paul went over to his house and met him while he was packing.

“Phantom Thread” (2017)

Elegant where “Inherent Vice” is unkempt, “Phantom Thread” brought back Day-Lewis as a haute-couture fashion designer in 1950s London and introduced U.S. audiences to Vicky Krieps as a waitress who becomes his muse. The film, the first PTA movie to shoot outside the United States, began a streak of three consecutive Best Picture and Best Director nominations for Anderson.

I call Daniel Day-Lewis “Cranky Cary Grant” in this movie. The last time I saw Daniel, he still hadn’t seen it, and I told him that I think he’s Cranky Cary Grant. He looked at me like I was crazy, but I’m pretty sure if he does watch it, he will agree.

I loved, loved, loved working in London. My uncle (shipping magnate and theater impresario Eddie Kulukundis), who got me obsessed with theater to begin with, was knighted and he lived in London. It was great seeing some of these older actors coming in that I’ve been loving and watching in movies forever. And my uncle’s wife was (English actress) Susan Hampshire. Eddie’s passed away, but Lady Susan, as I like to call her, is very much alive. Daniel told me that she was his first crush. I was just like, “Well, let me know if you want me to hook that up.” (Laughs)

“Licorice Pizza” (2021)

PTA went back to the San Fernando Valley circa 1973 for this loose-limbed comedy starring Hoffman’s son, Cooper, as a 15-year-old aspiring actor and musician Alana Haim as a photographer’s assistant he pursues. 

We thought for a second we were gonna do “One Battle,” but then Covid started. I affectionately call “Licorice Pizza” a very expensive home movie. We were all kind of in our own bubble. We didn’t want to have too many people and strangers on the set, so you’ll see a lot of us in the movie. It’s like “Where’s Waldo?”We used people we hadn’t put in since “Boogie Nights.”

Sean Penn was supposed to be in “Boogie Nights,” Sean Penn was supposed to be in “Punch-Drunk”. And so when we cast him in “Licorice Pizza,” I was like, “Let me get some backups for Sean, just in case.” But when he showed up and got his William Holden on (Penn plays the iconic actor in the film), he’s so attractive and so charming. I can’t stop cackling when I watch that scene. I was sitting right behind him on set, trying not to be a horrible extra because he was so funny.

“One Battle After Another” (2025)

Anderson’s 10th movie boasts his biggest budget by far (around $150 million) and his most Oscar nominations (13). The cast is a mixture of stars (Leonardo DiCaprio as a former revolutionary, Benicio del Toro as an underground operator, Sean Penn as a tightly wound military leader, Colonel Lockjaw) and newcomers (Chase Infiniti as DiCaprio’s daughter).

What was so great about “One Battle” was that we were able to put all the elements that we’d been working on for the nine previous films together. So you’ve got over-the-top crazy stars, and then lots of actors that nobody recognizes. We kind of just put it all in a blender. And the filmmaking itself — I call this a film and a movie, because it’s got all the craftsmanship of a high-end Academy Award film, but it’s a movie where people with their popcorn and Twizzlers will freaking love it.

On “Licorice Pizza,” when Sean Penn was on the set, I got to hang out with William Holden. We talked a lot and I loved him. But on the set of “One Battle,” when I saw Lockjaw coming, I never said a word. I barely made eye contact with Lockjaw. I crossed the street every time he came along.

Part of me is like, Do I retire now? And now there’s an Academy Award for casting, too, and I’m nominated for it. Like, does it get better than this?

This story first appeared in the Down to the Wire issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine, which will be published Feb. 19, 2026.

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