I’d love to be in a room full of Paul Thomas Anderson and Thomas Pynchon fanatics and see if I can possibly count all of the conversations that fly over my head while I smile and nod.
Anderson’s adaptation of Pynchon’s shaggy dog mystery novel inherent Vice begins production this month, and reporting the casting news isn’t above my head at least. The Warner Bros. production has added three more big names to the cast, as Deadline reports Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon is now on board, and The Wrap adds that both Martin Short and Jena Malone have signed up.
Set in 1970, Inherent Vice will follow Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), a pot-smoking detective who investigates a case involving a kidnapped woman and finds himself involved in something much larger. Benicio Del Toro is playing Sportello’s lawyer and friend in need. Neither Witherspoon nor Short’s roles were described, but Malone will play a former drug addict in need of Sportello’s help. Owen Wilson will also be in the film in an as-yet-undisclosed role.
Witherspoon has a full slate of films coming, with Atom Egoyan’s West Memphis Three drama Devil’s Knot, Philippe Farlardeau’s Sudanese refugee drama The Good Lie, and Paul Feig’s Wish Listin varying stages of development. She’s currently starring in Jeff Nichols’ Mud.
Malone gained acclaim for her work in the Hatfields & McCoys miniseries, and will be seen by almost everyone in her role as Johanna Mason in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire this fall. Otherwise, she’s currently filming the adaptation of the Arthur Phillips intriguing ghost thriller Angelica, and has Michael C. Martin’s crime drama 10 Cent Pistol coming at some point this year.
Short has stuck to mostly voicework over the last few years with roles in Frankenweenie and Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, as well as being The Cat in the Hat in The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! series.
