‘Inherent Vice’ Breakout Katherine Waterston Is Still Having Her ‘Pinch Me’ Moment
The daughter of Sam Waterston finally gets her moment to shine in “Inherent Vice.”
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The Babysitters |
Katherine Waterston’s been a working actress for close to a decade, but chances are you’ve never heard of her, despite appearances in “Michael Clayton,” “Robot & Frank,” this fall’s “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby” and a stint on HBO’s now defunct drama “Boardwalk Empire.” Her anonymity is soon to be a thing of the past however, thanks to Paul Thomas Anderson. The auteur is back in theaters this holiday season with “Inherent Vice,” his hugely anticipated follow-up to “The Master” — and Waterston features prominently in the loopy comedy, opposite Joaquin Phoenix who plays her ex-boyfriend. In a film full of nutty turns from the likes of Phoenix, James Brolin and Martin Short, it’s Waterston who grounds the proceedings with a raw, memorable performance that drew raves upon the film’s unveiling at the New York Film Festival last month.
Before “Inherent Vice” opens, Waterston can be seen in Tom O’Brien’s winning romantic dramedy “Manhattan Romance,” which is having its New York premiere at the Big Apple Film Festival this weekend. In addition to screening the film, which co-stars Gaby Hoffman and netted the Audience Choice Award at the 2014 New Hampshire Film Festival, Waterston will be awarded with the event’s Emerging Talent Award. For screening times go here.
Indiewire called Waterston recently to discuss the two projects and her milestone year. “Inherent Vice” opens December 12.
When youāre exposed to acting at such an early age, itās hard to know what those initial attractions were, how they happened. I canāt remember not wanting to do it. Also, I come from, on both sides of my family, a very creative family. Maybe it was appealing because of what I was exposed to with my father [Sam Waterston]. Perhaps there was some kind of genetic wiring for it? Itās so hard to know. Itās one of my earliest memories, really. Thinking about it and wanting to do it.
I find life so shocking, in general. Everything about it surprises me.
I think thereās an assumption when you have a parent in the business that youāre given some kind of a cheat sheet at an early age. Some kind of upper hand or some kind of advanced understanding of how the whole thing functions — maybe how to operate within it. I never felt I received that cheat sheet and grew up pretty removed from the business.
When you have a parent in the business or a parent thatās been as lucky and successful as my father — by the time I was conscious of what he did for a living, he was having a good time! He was working a lot. I didnāt see the years that came before — the struggle and the stress of it all.
“Manhattan Romance”
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I feel very devoted to Joaquin [Phoenix] and Paul Thomas Anderson, and so grateful as well, of course. Every now and then you get lucky enough to work with some people you feel like you would take a bullet for. I would say Joaquin, Paul, Gaby ā definitely.
I was an enormous fan of Paul’s. Heās the director whose movies I go to on opening night. I never watch a trailer before seeing one or read a single word about it. I love the work so much I plug my ears if something had seen something before I had. I just didnāt want to know anything going in.
I feel like I could spend my whole career working on adaptations of [Thomas] Pynchon novels if someone as brilliant as Paul was writing the adaptation. His dialogue — maybe itās dense — but itās so rich and itās so honest. I guess itās all that you hope for as an actor, to have something that challenges you, and have something thatās complex. And not understand everything about a scene the first time you read it.
I didnāt find it difficult to live in the “Inherent Vice” world or play those scenes, because they just seemed so real. Itās just a kind of incredibly efficient writing where I felt like I knew so much about my character from just those first two pages of the novel — of what is said and what isnāt said. Itās just so damned smart.
Itās very difficult to talk about Thomas Pynchon and Paul Thomas Anderson — these people I admire so much, itās very difficult to express the admiration because I feel kind of overwhelmed by it. And when I hear myself giving an interview, talking about it, Iām like, “Iām talking about these masters in their fields and I cannot believe the fortune Iāve had to get to this place.”
Itās strange to have a āpinch meā moment a year after youāve made a movie, but itās still quite amazing to me. That I got to be in “Inherent Vice,”Ā a part of the film. Itās really pretty much the best thing thatās ever happened to me!
BONUS
Here is the Deer Tongue Sex Scandal
Woman Hospitalized To Remove Deer Tongue She Used To āPleaseā Herself
Woman Hospitalized To Remove Deer Tongue She Used To āPleaseā Herself.
A woman from Little Rock, Arkansas, is now recovering after a bizarre chain of events that led doctors to find the tongue of a deer lodged into her vag!na.
The Arkansas woman, whoās name has not been released, went to her gynecologist complaining that her discharge had a āvery bad odor.ā Her doctor performed a typical exam checking for several different issues that could have been causing this problem. All tests were negative.
The doctor was not at all concerned about her complaints, until the results of the pap smear came back.
The report indicated that the cells taken from the pap smear, were not human. It could not determine the origin of the cells: all they knew was that they were not human cells.
The doctor requested that the woman come back for a repeat exam, and to discuss the findings.
During the exam, the doctor inserted his speculum, and scooped out a large piece of loose, decaying flesh. The doctor was disturbed with what he had found.Ā
āDuring the exam, I was utterly shocked with what I had found. Never in my 33 years of practice have I seen anything like this,ā Dr. Lee told the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. āWhat I removed from the woman, looked like a long tongue, but certainly not a human tongue. Then, what she admitted to her husband after the exam, was even more disturbing.ā
The woman finally confessed the dreaded details to her husband. After her husbandās recent hunting trip, he brought home a deer and gutted and dressed it in their garage. She admitted to seeing the tongue, admired its length, and had snuck off with it to use it as a pleasuring aid.
She didnāt remember leaving it up there.