With production recently commencing, Paul Thomas Anderson is returning to his earlier days of large, varied ensembles with Inherent Vice. We’ve been mostly caught off guard, and happily surprised, by each new casting announcement for who will be filling out the ensemble led by his Master star Joaquin Phoenix. After assembling Sean Penn, Owen Wilson, Benicio Del Toro, Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, Martin Short and Kevin O’Connor, another promising addition has landed.

According to Deadline, Josh Brolin has signed on to a key role in the film. While there’s no details yet on his character, we do know the film follows Phoenix as Larry “Doc” Sportello, a pot-smoking detective on a kidnapping case in 1970′s Los Angeles. Set to shoot through the summer thanks to the backing of Warner Bros., Brolin also has a busy fall ahead of him with Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, Spike Lee‘s Oldboy remake (which recently got shifted to October 25th) and Jason Reitman‘s Labor Day. While these are all diverse projects, we’d be lying if we said his latest isn’t our most-anticipated, so check back soon with more details on his role.

Is Brolin a worthy addition to the ensemble?

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