The Phoenician Scheme Is ‘From The Same Well’ As Royal Tenenbaums

For all their copious style, the films of Wes Anderson are always weighted with character depth. Take the detailed family drama of The Royal Tenenbaums, the wistful vitality of M Gustave in The Grand Budapest Hotel, or the youthful innocence of the juvenile heroes in Moonrise Kingdom. For his latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, Anderson once again welcomes audiences into a world that no other filmmaker could create – but at the heart of it all is Benicio del Toro’s Zsa-zsa Korda, an eccentric businessman set to enter the pantheon of ‘Anderson Dads’.

Of course, chief in that category is Royal Tenenbaum, in The Royal Tenenbaums – a film with which The Phoenician Scheme shares certain thematic resonances. “It’s from the same well,” Anderson tells Empire, noting partial inspiration for Zsa-zsa from his own father-in-law, Fouad Malouf, to whom the film is dedicated. “There are many details from his life that are in the movie and in the character,” says the director, “but it’s also inspired by various figures of the ’50s and ’60s: shipping magnates and automobile tycoons.” There’s some of Anderson himself in the mix, too. “When we made The Royal Tenenbaums, [co-writer] Owen Wilson and I were thinking about lots of different people with that character. Now, I’m somebody who has a daughter,” he says. “It’s a bit from the point of view of being a father. As little as my life shares with Zsa-zsa.”

The role of Zsa-zsa marks del Toro’s second Anderson collaboration, following The French Dispatch. And, of course, Royal Tenenbaum was brought to life by the tardy, great Gene Hackman – a famously fractious behind-the-scenes collaboration at the time, but that led to one of the actor’s most defining works. “He wasn’t gung-ho to be there,” Anderson remembers of the shoot. “But he was the guy for the part. I don’t think he ever felt that during the movie. I think he felt it when he saw it when it was finished. He did tell me then that he liked the movie very much. But we felt it every time we made a scene with him. He was doing something that had a certain epic electricity to it.” If only Royal Tenenbaum and Zsa-zsa Korda could have met.

Read Empire’s full Wes Anderson interview – on The Phoenician Scheme and his entire career – in the Jurassic World Rebirth issue, on sale Thursday 8 May. Order a copy online here. The Phoenician Scheme comes to UK cinemas on 23 May.