Philip Seymour Hoffman Plays Charismatic Religious Leader in Wes Anderson's The Master

Posted on July 19, 2012

Here is the theatrical trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a charismatic leader named Lancaster Dodd who closely resembles L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.

After World War II Dodd leaves the Navy and founds a religion called The Source. His wife Mary Sue is played by Amy Adams. Joaquin Phoenix plays Freddie Sutton a young man that returned from the war very disturbed who becomes Dodd's right hand man.

Writer and director Anderson says the film is not based on Scientology, but no one's buying it. Hubbard was in the Navy, had a wife named Mary Sue and founded Scientology after the war.

The Daily Beast had an ex-Scientologist read the script and explain the similarities to the controversial religion. Anderson reportedly showed the film to his friend Tom Cruise who was furious about one scene in which Dodd's son Val (Jesse Plemons) says of his father and his religion, "He's making all this up as he goes along - you don't see that?" It looks quite interesting. Take a look:

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