Joanna Newsom makes her feature film acting debut in Paul Thomas Anderson's crime comedy 'Inherent Vice' and it seems there was no-one she could've better learned from than co-star Joaquin Phoenix.

Joanna Newsom in 'Inherent Vice'
Joanna Newsom plays onscreen narrator in 'Inherent Vice'

The 32-year-old multi-instrumentalist best known for her accomplishments in harp-playing is almost totally new to the world of acting. Aside from lending her voice to the English dubbing of Japanese animation 'The Sky Crawlers', making an appearance as a harpist (naturally) in an episode of 'Portlandia' and starring in MGMT's video for their single 'Kids', she has only ever found a creative outlet in music. That was until she landed the role of narrator Sortilege in Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's 2009 novel 'Inherent Vice'.

More: Watch the trailer for 'Inherent Vice'

And it's thanks to the likes of co-star Joaquin Phoenix when it came to picking up acting tips. 'His complete immersion in an embodiment of his character has a sort of magical, alchemic quality of making me also completely believe', she reveals. 'He was looking at me and speaking to me and I definitely believed 100% that he was speaking to Sortilège.'

She adds that it was Phoenix's laidback attitude to shooting and getting into his character as PI Doc Sportello that was of particular interest to her. 'There's nothing on autopilot, there's no sense of striding out completely knowing what's going on', she admits. 'There's a stripping down to the raw... sort of just being present, and I observed and appreciated that a lot.'

More: Owen Wilson discusses 'paranoia' themes in 'Inherent Vice'

Newsom, who has reached charts with her avant-garde style records including 2010's 'Have One On Me' and 2006's 'Ys', also contributed musically to the film - which is as to be expected. The soundtrack has been composed by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood who recently unveiled a new track for the movie entitled 'Spooks', which, while featuring members of Supergrass, also sees Joanna Newsom perform spoken word.

More: New Radiohead song unveiled for 'Inherent Vice'

'Inherent Vice' is out today (December 12th 2014).

Joanna Newsom promo
Joanna Newsom makes her acting debut in 'Inherent Vice'