
The cast for Paul Thomas Anderson’s untitled religious drama continues to fill out, as Rami Malek (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn) has just signed on for the film. He joins Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Jesse Plemons, David Warshofsky, and Lena Endre in the flick. Showblitz reports that Malek will play the son-in-law of the main character, played by Hoffman, with Adams playing Hoffman’s wife.
The story is set in the 1950s and centers on a WWII veteran who starts a new religion after being haunted by the horrors of battle. Phoenix plays an alcoholic drifter who becomes Hoffman’s right hand man. Malek was last seen in the HBO miniseries The Pacific, and plays the part of Benjamin in the final two Twilight films. The cast so far is impressive, and the thought of having a new Paul Thomas Anderson film in theaters by next year is almost too good to be true.

Last month, we reported that in addition to Joaquin Phoenix signing on to star opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman in Paul Thomas Anderson’s untitled religious drama, actresses Madisen Beaty (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) Amy Adams, Lena Endre (2009′s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and Laura Dern were also circling the project. Earlier this week, we reported that Dern was on board (along with Jesse Plemons and David Warshofsky) and now we’ve learned that Endre and Adams have also joined the flick. The Playlist reports that Endre’s role is currently unknown while Deadline is reporting that Adams will play the wife of Hoffman’s character, Lancaster Dodd.
The story is set in the 1950s and centers on Dodd, a World War II veteran, who starts a new religion after being haunted by the horrors of battle. He then takes in an alcoholic drifter (Phoenix) as his right-hand man. Earlier drafts of the script heavily implied that the movie was based on L. Ron Hubbard and the founding of the Church of Scientology, but that aspect may have been reduced in later drafts. I’m not familiar with Endre’s work, but I’m a huge fan of Adams and this cast continues to impress.

Now that the lead roles in Paul Thomas Anderson’ untitled religious drama have been filled by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix, it looks like the supporting cast is starting to fill out. As we previously reported, the film centers on the charismatic figure of Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman) who forms his own religion after witnessing the horrors of World War II. His right hand man is an alcoholic drifter (Phoenix) who eventually begins to question his mentor’s beliefs. Earlier drafts heavily implied that the movie was based on the history of Scientology, but that subtext may have been reduced in more recent versions of the script.
Variety reports that Laura Dern (Everything Must Go), Jesse Plemons (Friday Night Lights), and David Warshofsky (There Will Be Blood) have joined the film. Plemons will play Dodd’s son, and Warshofsky will play a detective. No word yet on who Dern will play, but I like all three of these actors and Anderson has always excelled at putting together a strong cast. Plemons will next be seen in Peter Berg’s Battleship while Warshofsky was recently cast in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.