Leonardo DiCaprio heaps praise on Paul Thomas Anderson

Leonardo DiCaprio has hailed Paul Thomas Anderson "one of the most unique talents of our time".

The Oscar-winning actor stars in the director's upcoming film 'One Battle After Another' and he admitted he had been waking decades to make a movie with the 'Licorice Pizza' filmmaker.

Speaking during Warner Bros. presentation at CinemaCon, Leonardo said: “I’ve been wanting to work for Paul for over 20 years now. He’s one of the most unique talents of our time.

“With this film, he has tapped into something politically and culturally that is brimming beneath our psyche.”

The 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' actor praised Paul as a "master" and said the cast were all grateful to “improvise and become our own characters.”

He continued: “A lot of writer-directors are incredibly rigid, but his ability to work with actors is so unique."

Co-star Regina Hall added: “What was so incredible was how collaborative the process was.”

Leonardo hailed the project "an incredibly epic movie and has such scope and scale", while Regina praised the "heartfelt" story amongst the humour.

Also joined on stage by Teyana Taylor, Regina said: "It's humorous, it's funny, but it's also heartfelt. And so to be able to spar alongside anyone, especially these two, is amazing."

Taylor teased that her character isn't likeable and she's excited for audiences' reactions.

She said: "She's always in survival mode. She's very misunderstood, but she's still selfish... I can't wait for you to meet this character."

Previously-unseen footage from 'One Battle After Another' - which also stars Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Chase Infiniti - was then screened, including Leonardo getting angry on the phone.

He raged in the clip: “I’m a drug and alcohol lover. I will hunt you down and stick a loaded piece of dynamite in your fucking asshole.”

The black comedy - which centres on a group of former revolutionaries who reconnect to help their member Bob Ferguson (DiCaprio) find his daughter - is scheduled for release on 26 September.

Last week, Leonardo launched his own page on YouTube to share the trailer for 'One Battle After Another'.

He alerted fans to his new channel on Instagram.

He wrote: "#OneBattleAfterAnother trailer is live on my YouTube page at the link in my bio. Subscribe to be the first to see updates on my upcoming projects."