Katherine Waterston Lands Lead in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice

Frequent off-Broadway star Katherine Waterston (Bachelorette) has signed on for the leading role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming adaptation of the 2009 Thomas Pynchon novel Inherent Vice.

Deadline reports that Waterston—the daughter of veteran actor Sam Waterston—will play Shasta, the free-spirited ex-girlfriend of Doc (Joaquin Phoenix) who gives up her hippie lifestyle for a real estate mogul. Joining Waterston and Phoenix in the cast are Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Josh Brolin, Martin Short and Jena Malone.

Waterson’s off-Broadway credits include Kindness at Playwrights Horizons, Leslye Headland’s Bachelorette and CSC’s The Cherry Orchard and Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling. She’s also got five movies already in the can for the next two years, including The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers, Manhattan Romance, Night Moves, Glass Chin and Fluidic.