Watch: 'Saturday Night Live' Sketch 'Fanatic' Written & Directed By Paul Thomas Anderson And Starring Ben Affleck

Fifteen years ago, what would you have imagined the future held for Paul Thomas Anderson? What about Ben Affleck?  

In 2000, Affleck was coming off of “Dogma,” “Shakespeare in Love” and “Armageddon.” Sure, he’d already won an Oscar (along with Matt Damon) for writing “Good Will Hunting.” But he was yet to make his feature directorial debut, which would come seven years later with “Gone Baby Gone.” The notion of “Argo” wouldn’t yet be viable, nor would the thought of casting him as Batman.

Similarly, P.T.A.’s career was just revving up. He had made “Magnolia,” “Boogie Nights” and “Hard Eight,” but “Punch Drunk Love,” “There Will Be Blood,” and this year’s Best Adapted Screenplay nominee (and our pick for 10th Best Film of the Year) “Inherent Vice” were all yet to be conceived. 

So consider this a Throwback Thursday of epic proportions —behold the Paul Thomas Anderson written/directed, Ben Affleck starring “Saturday Night Live” sketch “FANatic.”...