Phoenix, Hoffman win best actor in Venice for ‘The Master’

Actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix converse as they arrive for the premiere of the film ‘The Master’ at the 69th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Saturday, September 1, 2012. AP/Joel Ryan

VENICE, Italy—US actors Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman shared the prize for best actor at the Venice film festival on Saturday for their performances in the Scientology-inspired “The Master”.

Pheonix plays an alcoholic World War II veteran who becomes a disciple to the charismatic Hoffman, playing the leader of a nascent movement called “The Cause” in Paul Thomas Anderson’s beautifully shot movie set in the 1950s.