Paul Thomas Andersons 10 Best Female Characters Ranked

Paul Thomas Anderson’s 10 Best Female Characters, Ranked

Whether it’s Alma Elson and Amber Waves or Rollergirl and Peggy Dodd, Paul Thomas Anderson has created some of the strongest female film characters.

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Paul Thomas Anderson continues to be one of the most celebrated filmmakers currently working in Hollywood. With his new untitled coming-of-age drama set to hit make its U.S. theatrical debut on November 26, 2021, P.T.A. is bound to introduce another iconic female character to the world (played by Alana Haim) a hallmark of his work dating back to his 1996 feature debut Hard Eight.

Since the start of his career, Anderson has never created female characters who are one-dimensional. On the contrary, the female characters he writes – and the talented actors he casts – are often extremely complex, deeply flawed, fully-rounded, yet utterly lovable and relatable in the most realistic of ways.

10 Rollergirl – Boogie Nights

On the surface, the iconic Brandy aka Roller Girl (played by Heather Graham) in Boogie Nights comes off as a vacuous California adult film star without a care in the world. As the film unspools, however, she unveils a much deeper internal regarding her absent mother, using fellow star Amber Waves (played by Julianne Moore) as her surrogate.

Rollergirl’s backstory hints at a young woman who has overcome a difficult home life and transform into a bubbly, self-empowered agent of her own body. When she’s recognized by a boy from high school who tries to humiliate her, she sticks up for herself and beats the man bloody in the street.

9 Clementine – Hard Eight

The first female lead role Anderson wrote and directed belongs to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Clementine in Hard Eight. The Las Vegas waitress and part-time prostitute is super scrappy, highly ambitious, and does whatever is necessary to survive.

Aside from the lusty physical sway that she has over men, Clementine uses her wits and wiles to trick her husband and small-time hood John (played by John C. Reilly) out of a few hundred dollars by concocting an elaborate gun-point hostage scenario. Much braver and smarter than she first appears, Clementine’s strength as a character is bolstered by Paltrow’s commanding performance.

8 Gwenovier – Magnolia

April Grace gives one of the most persistent and strong-willed performances in Magnolia as Gwenovier, the feisty journalist who isn’t afraid of pressing the big bad Frank T.J. Mackey (played by Tom Cruise) for the truth about his mysterious upbringing. She’s smart, fierce, and will not take no for an answer.

The powerful, misogynistic sex guru Frank controls the interview at first but is completely dominated by Gwenovier’s brazen and brilliant line of questioning by the end. Gwenovier gets Frank to let his guard down, open up about his vulnerable past, and get to the bottom of the man’s cryptic public facade and expose him as a bald-faced liar. She dominates the dominator and Grace upstages the mighty Cruise in the process.

7 Peggy Dodd – The Master

Amy Adams earned an Oscar nod for her powerful supporting performance as Peggy Dodd in The Master, the steely calculating wife behind the curtain of cult leader Lancaster Dodd who has much more influence than initially appears.

Set in the 1950s, Peggy presents herself publicly as a meek woman who blindly follows her powerful husband and leader of The Cause. In private, it’s Lady Macbeth-like Peggy who advises Lancaster on several key moves to make regarding The Cause and his new acolyte, Freddie Quell (played by Joaquin Phoenix). She wields more power behind the scenes than any of Lancaster’s followers can imagine.

6 Claudia Wilson Gator – Magnolia

The crushing anxiety and profound need to overcome past trauma that Claudia Wilson Gator (played by Melora Walters) exhibits in Magnolia is so authentically heartbreaking that it’s hard to find many stronger female characters or performances in a P.T. Anderson film.

Resorting to cocaine abuse as a result of being molested by her own father years prior, Claudia’s desperate need to find a meaningful connection leads her to engage with the meek police officer Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly). The resolve and refreshing honesty Claudia shows makes her a relatable three-dimensional character who overcomes immense pain the best she can.

5 Cyril Woodcock – Phantom Thread

Until the end of the film, the only person able to ever stick up to the commanding and cocksure dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) in Phantom Thread is his older sister, Cyril (played by Leslie Manville). While she runs the daily operations and keeps Reynolds’ focused on work, Cyril does not take any of his down-talking shenanigans and often makes key decisions on his behalf. She’s the most powerful woman behind the man.

Manville earned an Oscar nod for her performance, lauded for going toe-to-toe with Oscar-winner Day-Lewis at every step. Cyril radiates strength through elegance, sophistication, and the bravery of truthfully expressing what’s best for her brother.

4 Linda Partridge – Magnolia

Julianne Moore gives one of the strongest performances in a P.T.A film as Linda Partridge in Magnolia, a drug-addled trophy wife who faces a severe crisis of conscience in the wake of her husband’s terminal cancer diagnosis.

With her husband Earl (played by Jason Robards) set to pass away, Linda’s guilty conscience about her chronic infidelity leads to her attempt to dissolve her massive financial inheritance. Despite Linda’s pharmaceutical dependency that clouds her judgment, she still finds the moral courage to do the right thing in the face of tremendous pain, loss, and grief.

3 Lena Leonard – Punch Drunk Love

The strength of Punch-Drunk Love’s Lena Leonard (played by Emily Watson) comes from knowing what she wants, remaining patient and steadfast in her desire, and pursuing her romance with the equally idiosyncratic Barry Egan (played by Adam Sandler). Moreover, the performance by Watson is commanding as they come.

Lena coyly arranges a way of meeting Barry, although he is initially reluctant to date. Lena’s soft, sweet, and soulful nature sways Barry to meet her in Hawaii, where the two forge a lovely romance. Despite his violent outbursts, Lena is strong enough to follow her heart and trust him anyway. In the end, Lena takes the lead and dictates the terms of the romance.

2 Amber Waves – Boogie Nights

Julianne Moore scored an Oscar nomination for her turn as Amber Waves in Boogie Nights, the experienced adult film star who takes on a motherly role to Mark Wahlberg’s Dirk and Rollergirl. Amber is sympathetic, compassionate, and strong-willed as can be.

In addition to rising to the top of a misogynistic and male-dominated profession, it’s her intense custody battle for her young child that gives Amber such emotional heft as a character. While the judge deems her unfit due to her profession and past drug arrests, Amber’s strength as a caretaker allows herself, Dirk, and Rollergirl to overcome tragedy and get back to work.

1 Alma Elson – Phantom Thread

By turning the psychological tables and completely domineering her ultra-powerful husband and renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock in Phantom Thread, Alma Elson (played by Vicky Krieps) is P.T.A’s strongest female character to date.

Beginning as a waitress, Alma soon becomes Reynolds’ muse, model, and lover. When he becomes bored with her and upset with her routine-breaking actions, she reinvigorates his love for her by secretly poisoning him with wild mushrooms. Alma knows that Reynolds’ has an intense need to be mothered and nursed back to health, which she happily obliges by continuing to poison him. As dark and twisted as it is, Alma takes full control of the relationship and tames the untamable.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/paul-thomas-anderson-ten-best-female-characters-ranked/

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