Four years before The Phoenician Scheme premiered at Cannes Fest, the idea for the film was born there as director Anderson presented The French Dispatch.

Benicio del Toro had a small role in the movie as an imprisoned artist, but Anderson wanted more for the Oscar-winning actor.

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“I had a sort of image in my mind of Benicio playing a Euro business tycoon,” Anderson said. “As if he walked out of an Antonioni movie with his sunglasses.”

Anderson describes him, Zsa-Zsa is “a man who can always pivot, and has no obligation to the truth. A man who feels empowered to make decisions that redirect the lives of populations. Someone whose ambition is like a storm system.”

The filmmaker wrote the part with del Toro in mind — and not only is he the main character, but he’s in every shot of the movie.

With little rehearsal time before shooting “The Phoenician Scheme” over 8 weeks in Germany, the task was daunting, “but in the end, you just trust Anderson. You just go for it, and you’re in good hands.”

Despite Zsa-Zsa’s magnate status, del Toro noted that the “human arc of the character is really the heart of the piece,” which relies on Mia Threapleton’s Liesl, his on screen daughter. Del Toro accompanied Anderson to London to audition her, and the two knew right away.

“There was this moment where we locked eyes and I think she could tell Zsa-Zsa what’s up,” Del Toro said. “She’s the angel that saves Zsa-Zsa. Without her, Zsa-Zsa is really sad human being. She’s the one who ignites his conscience.”

As Zsa-Zsa and Liesl embark on a globetrotting adventure, they’re accompanied by the shy, insect-obsessed tutor Bjorn, played by Michael Cera, who provides the film’s comic relief. “He’s got that Buster Keaton thing,” del Toro said. “He’s stoic, but there’s something else, like ‘je ne sais quoi.’ He’s terrific in the film, and he’s been around a bit, but this is just a great part that’s going to give him sail.”

“The Phoenician Scheme” should give del Toro momentum of his own–there’s already Oscar buzz, this time in the lead category. Del Toro had won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2000, for Soderbergh’s crime epic, Traffic.

“I don’t take it for granted. I know the part was a gift,” he said. “Actors dream of moments like this happening, where a great director says, ‘I got this part for you. I’m going to lean on your shoulders for this.’ It was a call to arms, and I just was honored.”

The Phoenician Scheme hits theaters on Friday via Focus Features.