Licorice Pizza True Story: Every Character Based On A Real Person

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Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza may be a fictional coming-of-age story, but the nostalgic Hollywood film features many characters either portraying or based on real-life people. Licorice Pizza documents the misadventures, tumultuous friendship, and romance of Alana Kane, a photographer’s assistant in her mid-20s, and Gary Valentine, a 15-year-old actor, and entrepreneur. Set in the early 1970s, the Licorice Pizza true story elements are also based on the real Hollywood-set memories of director Paul Thomas Anderson and his friend Gary Goetzman.

Licorice Pizza has an unmatchable quality of realism compared to Paul Thomas Anderson’s past films, partially because of how close-to-home the cast, characters, and stories are to his real life. Alana Haim makes her film debut as leading lady Alana Kane in Licorice Pizza, but she and her family have a long history with the director. Known for forming the band HAIM with her sisters, Alana’s entire family is in Licorice Pizza, where they essentially play themselves. This is partially due to her family’s close relationship with PTA as her mother was once his teacher, and the director helmed many of their music videos. While the Haims aren’t entirely playing themselves, nor real-life Hollywood counterparts of the ‘70s, the family’s dynamic in Licorice Pizza adds to the movie's attainable realism.

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Aside from the Haim family, Paul Thomas Anderson cast newcomer Cooper Hoffman as leading man Gary Valentine in Licorice Pizza, the son of PTA’s frequent collaborator, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Licorice Pizza also features small cameos from PTA’s wife, SNL's Maya Rudolph, and their children, all of whom