Patton Oswalt remembers his confusing role in Magnolia

Last Updated on December 20, 2024

There are stories of coincidence and chance, of intersections and strange things told…And Patton Oswalt has an amusing story of his own about working with Paul Thomas Anderson on Magnolia. For those who don’t know or haven’t seen it since he broke out, Oswalt played black jack dealer and scuba diving aficionado Delmer Darion, seen in the prologue that set up the themes of Magnolia. Only, Oswalt had no idea what he was even filming – he was just sort of up a tree.

Speaking on the Fly on the Wall podcast, Patton Oswalt remembered his early job on Magnolia as one that kept him in the dark. “It’s brilliant but anyone who works with Paul Thomas Anderson will tell you…they don’t give you the whole script, they send you your pages…So all I had was, I’m beaten up in a casino and then I’m suddenly in a green wet suit and I’m hanging in this tree in the Valley and they’re dumping Arrowhead waters on my head to keep me from passing out because it was so hot.” Finally, Oswalt hit his breaking point, wondering what the point of any of it was. “And I said, ‘Paul, what the f*ck is going on? What is this?’ And he just said, ‘I’ll just put it this way: you’re the first frog that falls out of the sky and it’ll make sense to you when you see the movie.’” But as co-host Dana Carvey was quick to point out: “No you won’t!” Glad you like his work!

First frog or not, at least noted movie buff Patton Oswalt recognizes the brilliance of both Magnolia and its director (you should check out his impression of There Will Be Blood’s Daniel Plainview from his Frankensteins and Gumdrops album). Divisive as it may be, our readers still picked it as the third best film of 1999 right behind The Matrix and Fight Club. Personally, I have it in the top 10 of all time and would name it the best of its decade…but don’t quietly judge me.

While Patton Oswalt always seems to be busy with various projects, Paul Thomas Anderson is focused solely on his next feature, which is probably the most secretive film PTA has ever done, although it may not be quite as mysterious as those frogs…