Katherine Waterston has no problem getting totally nude in ‘Inherent Vice’

Katherine Waterston has no problem getting totally nude in Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film ‘Inherent Vice’

The daughter of ‘Law and Order’ actor, who strips down and gets spanked by Joaquin Phoenix in film, says ‘nudity is what we actors do’
Waterston takes the plunge “Inherent Vice” at Inherent Vice” world premiere at New York’s Alice Tully Hall in October.
In a key scene of director Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film, “Inherent Vice,” a fully nude Katherine Waterston slides onto Joaquin Phoenix’s lap and goads him into violently spanking her.

The raw, intense sequence may have proved intimidating for some actresses, but it was no sweat for someone with Waterston’s mix of experience and acting chops.
“I feel that nudity is sort of what we do as actors,” Waterston told the Daily News.
“It’s all nudity, it’s all vulnerable, it’s all at least a little bit scary,” she said. “But it didn’t feel any more vulnerable or complicated than any other complicated, vulnerable scene I’ve played.”
Waterston is the daughter of revered actor and “Law & Order” star Sam Waterston, who portrayed prosecutor Jack McCoy on the show for 20 years.
But over the past decade, the statuesque 34-year-old has built a promising career of her own with a mix of eye-catching Broadway and Off-Broadway performances (“Kindness, 2008, “Bachelorette,” 2010) and low-key indie film work (“The Babysitters” 2007, “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby,” 2013).

Dad’s esteem served as some inspiration; the New York University alum recalls nearly wearing out her VCR as a kid watching a tape of her father’s leading performance in a 1973 Joe Papp-production of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.”
“We had the VHS of it when we were a kid, and my sister and I watched it incessantly and knew all the parts,” she recalled.
“A lot of the other films he was making at the time were not really age appropriate, like ‘The Killing Fields’ and ‘Crimes and Misdemeanors,’” she added, citing two of her father’s ’80s hits.
It might be some time before any of Waterston’s own future little ones are able to watch her performance in “Inherent Vice,” Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s ’70s stoner noir, which opens Friday.
Waterston plays Shasta Fay Hepworth, the ex-squeeze of Phoenix’s mutton-chopped private eye, Larry (Doc) Sportello, whose disappearance sets the plot into motion.
Waterston at screening of “Inherent Vice” last month in Los Angeles.
On paper, the role of a dope-hooked hippie vixen may not seem like a natural fit for the Connecticut-reared daughter of an Oscar nominee and a former fashion model, but Waterston says she felt a mysterious connection to Shasta’s world.
“It’s weird. I feel like people assume if a character is very different than you, that means it’s difficult to get into their head or into their skin,” Waterston said.
“In terms of the (’70s era), I’ve loved the period my whole life, have always been drawn to the music and, as a kid, was fascinated with that moment in American history.”
Equally compelling was the chance to work with Phoenix and, in particular, Anderson, whom Waterston calls “the director every actor clamors to work with.”
The positive buzz about the flick, which also stars Josh Brolin, Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson, has led the actress to experience a bit of a “pinch me” moment.
“I think I’m keeping it together pretty well,” she said with a laugh. “It’s absolutely a dream come true. Although, I have to say … the really exciting moment was being told I got the job. It’s hard to beat that feeling.”