|
|
|
 he
genesis for
Punch-Drunk Love came about two years ago when Time magazine
ran an article about David Phillips, a University of California civil
engineer who realized he could accumulate 1.25 million air miles with a
frequent-flyer promotion by buying only $3,000 worth of pudding cups. Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson was so intrigued by the story that he decided not only to meet with Phillips, but to incorporate the story into his new script, using it as a plot device for the lead character Barry Egan, played by Adam Sandler. Sandler plays a hardworking small business owner who sells novelty items, such as designer toilet plungers. Because of the abuse he has endured at the hands of his seven hen-pecking sisters over the years, Barry has problems with relationships, so he begins calling a phone sex line. However, the operator not only swindles him by stealing his credit card number, but begins threatening him. |
|
|
Barry, already known for his violent fits of rage, gets the operator’s four brothers, who run the business, angry enough to come after him. In the meantime, one of Barry’s sisters sets him up with a friend of hers, Lena (Emily Watson), and although they are attracted to each other, the relationship is awkward because of his extreme shyness. Without giving too much of the plot away, at this point, the pudding cups begin to come into play. Anderson asked casting director Cassandra Kulukundis to try something new while casting several of the roles—he wanted as many non-actors as possible. “I went to meet with these two sisters and in talking discovered that they had two cousins,” she explains. “So of the seven sisters in the film, six are non-actors and four are related. They all gelled perfectly. They had no fear.” While searching Utah and Los Angeles for two non-actors to play Barry’s pursuers, Kulukundis had another stroke of luck. “I met with this guy from Utah who was in L.A. doing construction and he mentioned that he had brothers, all of whom are blonde and Mormon.” The script was re-written to accommodate the four brothers pursuing the man with seven sisters. However, the lead roles were cast even before the script was written. Anderson is a long-time fan of Sandler’s and wrote the script specifically for him. He also had Emily Watson in mind when writing the character of Lena and was thrilled when she accepted. At a recent press conference
during the Toronto International Film Festival, Anderson said of Sandler,
“I just think he is wonderful, and I think he is a hell of an actor. I’ve
always loved seeing him in the movies. You think, who do you want to work
with but, really, who do you want to be near? And I’ve always wanted to be
near him. So I made my dream come true.” |