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Sep 29, 2022 · Though you won’t find either of those foods in the film, it’s an homage to Licorice Pizza, the Southern California record-store chain that existed in the ’70s and ’80s. In turn, the store’s name...
- Harper Lambert
- Gary Valentine
- Jon Peters
- Jack Holden
- Joel Wachs
- Lucy Doolittle
- Fred Gwynne
- B. Mitchel Reed
- Mary Grady
- Why Licorice Pizza Missed Out at The Oscars
Licorice Pizza’s leading man Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman), is based on Paul Thomas Anderson’s friend Gary Goetzman, a former child actor. Goetzman, now a well-known producer who frequently collaborates with Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks, inspired almost all of the specific anecdotes within Licorice Pizza from his own teenage years. Goetzman star...
Jon Peters, played by Bradley Cooper in Licorice Pizza, is a real producer and former hairdresser from the ‘70s. An interesting tidbit is that he was dating actress Barbra Streisand at the time of the film’s setting, a point that Cooper’s portrayal reiterates to Gary. Jon produced Barbra Streisand’s A Star is Born remake, which is an excellent East...
Licorice Pizza’s motorcycle-riding actor Jack Holden is based on Oscar-winning movie star William Holden. PTA told Variety that Jack Holden is a “stand-in for William Holden,” as he felt it more appropriate not to use the actor’s real name. Played by Sean Penn, Jack Holden’s Licorice Pizza character is introduced when Alana gets an audition to star...
Another real-life figure whose name isn’t changed in Licorice Pizza is Joel Wachs, a politician who ran for council member in Los Angeles in the early 1970s. Played by Uncut Gems director Benny Safdie in Licorice Pizza, Wachs’ role becomes significant when Alana quits Gary’s waterbed business and gets a job volunteering on Chairman Wachs’ campaign....
Licorice Pizza’s Lucy Doolittle character is another example of slightly changing a real-life Hollywood actor’s name as deemed appropriate by PTA. Doolittle's role is early in the film as an actress leading Gary’s variety show Under One Roof. Anderson keeps the inspirational actress’s first name and changes the last, as Lucy Doolittle is based on n...
Another true star of the ‘60s portrayed as himself on screen, Paul Thomas Anderson’s frequent collaborator John C. Reilly cameos in a blink-or-you’ll-miss-it scene of Licorice Pizza. As Gary sets up his “Soggy Bottom” stand at the Teen-Age Fair, Licorice Pizza pans over to a booth for The Munsters’ original cast, where Fred Gwynne (Reilly) is dress...
After Alana and Gary decide to go into business together for Fat Bernie’s Water Beds, the two schedule a live radio ad as done by B. Mitchel Reed. Licorice Pizza portrays the radio jockey as the actual B. in only about a two-minute scene. Mitchel Reed, who is played in the movie by accomplished voice actor Ray Chase. Reed was best known for his dis...
In a small but memorable scene, Licorice Pizza features a segment where Alana and Gary meet with Mary Grady, a real-life child actor agent from the ‘70s. Played by frequent PTA collaborator Harriet Samson Harris, Mary Grady was a well-known talent agent for many of Hollywood’s greatest child stars of the era. Licorice Pizza’s real-life Grady was al...
Among nine other films, Licorice Pizza was nominated for Best Picture, and didn't win — but what made many audiences upset was that Alana Haim got missed entirely. Licorice Pizza was up against quite a formidable group in terms of the Best Picture Oscar. Between King Richard, allegorical disaster-comedy Don't Look Up, Belfast, and Dune, it was perh...
- Streaming Movies/TV Features Editor
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Jun 3, 2022 · After playing cat and mouse the entire film, Licorice Pizza’s ending sees the two passionately kiss before running off into the dark of the San Fernando Valley together, with Alana whispering “I love you, Gary” to close out the film.
- Streaming Movies/TV Features Editor
Sep 29, 2022 · In “Licorice Pizza,” a teenage boy perpetually chasing after new business schemes falls for a 20-something woman who’s not quite sure where she’s heading, but is up for the ride. Together,...
Licorice Pizza is a 2021 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It stars Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman in their film debuts, alongside an ensemble supporting cast including Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, and Benny Safdie.
Sep 13, 2022 · Set in San Fernando Valley in 1973, "Licorice Pizza" tells the story of Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman), a 15-year-old child actor and aspiring businessman that begins...
Dec 1, 2021 · In ‘Licorice Pizza,’ Bradley Cooper plays the Hollywood producer as a repellent, manic chaos agent. The truth behind the portrayal is even more grotesque.
