LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul Thomas Anderson has long stood among modern cinema’s most influential filmmakers. Now he has an Oscar to match.
Anderson won the Academy Award for best director for “One Battle After Another,” the sweeping political drama that blends his signature character-driven storytelling with large-scale historical themes.
“They make a guy work hard for these,” Anderson said while glancing down at the trophy. Earlier in Sunday’s ceremony, he won his first-ever Oscar for best adapted screenplay and took home best picture to close out the show.
“I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we’re handing off to them,” he said.
The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, follows a group of political activists navigating shifting alliances and generational power struggles. Anderson brings the same precise visual style and layered character work that has defined his career.
While speaking backstage, Anderson acknowledged that the film echoes the political moment.
“Our film obviously has a certain amount of parallel to what’s happening in the news every day,” Anderson said. “So it obviously reflects what’s happening in the world.”
Anderson said collaboration remains the driving force behind his filmmaking.
“I’ve been doing this long enough to tell you that the reason I continue to do it is because of the people that I collaborate with,” he said backstage. “It’s probably not very fashionable to say that you don’t do it for awards or anything else, but honest to God, the thing that gets me really excited about making films is collaborating with people.”
Anderson dedicated his win to his late collaborator Adam Somner, who died in 2024 from cancer.
“He’s in a really big bar up in the sky right now,” Anderson said. “He’s having a gin and tonic, and he is so happy.”
The filmmaker addressed conversations about how race and character complexity are portrayed in the film, particularly surrounding Teyana Taylor’s character named Perfidia Beverly Hills, a Black female revolutionary. He said the character was written to be someone struggling internally while trying to lead a revolution.
“We always knew that we were trying to make something complicated,” Anderson said. “We knew that we weren’t making something that was heroic. … This woman was suffering, not only from postpartum depression, but she had issues of her own that she hadn’t really reconciled with.”
Anderson praised other nominees in the best directing category included Ryan Coogler for “Sinners,” Chloé Zhao for “Hamnet,” Joachim Trier for “Sentimental Value,” and Josh Safdie for “Marty Supreme.” He called them “classmates” before offering some sarcasm.
“There will always be some doubt in your heart that you deserve it,” Anderson said of the trophy for best director. “But there is no question the pleasure of having it for myself.”
For more than two decades, Anderson has built one of the most respected bodies of work in American filmmaking. He first broke through with the 1997 film “Boogie Nights,” a sprawling ensemble drama set in the adult film industry that quickly established him as a bold new voice.
He followed with “Magnolia,” “Punch-Drunk Love” and the towering oil-industry epic “There Will Be Blood,” widely considered one of the defining films of the 21st century.
Anderson continued to earn acclaim with “The Master,” “Phantom Thread” and “Licorice Pizza,” films celebrated for their performances, craftsmanship and emotional depth.
Despite multiple nominations across directing and writing categories, Anderson had never won an Oscar for directing until now.
His victory for “One Battle After Another” cements his place among the academy’s most celebrated filmmakers.
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