Paul Dano Defended By Peers After Quentin Tarantino’s Astonishing Remarks
Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino is not a fan of Paul Dano, even though the actor is in one of his favorite movies of this century: There Will Be Blood.
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That was one of the many major films unleashed in the late 2000s that felt like it was everywhere for a time. It endured as a timeless hallmark of cinema and accrued accolades due to two main factors: Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance and Paul Thomas Anderson’s direction.
However, for Tarantino, there is one big picadillo holding the film back from true top-tier greatness, and that is Paul Dano.
He wasn’t a household name yet, but Dano was on the rise back then. Eminent directors, not just Anderson, were taking notice. As such, Dano landed big supporting roles alongside established players, including Day-Lewis, Angelina Jolie, and Ethan Hawke decades before The Batman and The Fabelmans.
The actor still looks like a fresh face, but has already had quite the career, although Tarantino might disagree. He bemoaned the actor’s abilities, or lack thereof, in a recent podcast appearance, and set social media ablaze in the process.
In There Will Be Blood, according to Tarantino on Bret Easton Ellis’s show, “[Dano] is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister. [Daniel] is eating him [alive]. Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy. Daniel Day-Lewis shows that he doesn’t need a strong foil. The movie needs it. He doesn’t need anything.”
Tarantino adds (via Variety), “It’s supposed to be a two-hander and it’s not! … you put him with the weakest f–ing actor in SAG? The limpest dick in the world?” When pressed by Ellis, he clarified, “I am not saying he is giving a terrible performance, I am saying he’s giving a non-entity performance… I don’t care for him.”
Dano didn’t comment, but people who worked with him have his back, starting with The Batman helmer Matt Reeves. “Paul Dano is an incredible actor, and an incredible person,” Reeves wrote in response to Tarantino’s interview on X.
Former MCU actress and current sitcom star Kat Dennings also showed support for Dano. She opined on Threads a similar response to Reeves’s: “Paul Dano is an amazing actor.”
Comedian and Mystery Men star Ben Stiller chimed in via his X page with “Paul Dano is f-ing brilliant.”
Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu would add his take on X, writing, “idk man i think paul dano is an incredible actor.”
Finally, Colleen Foy, who worked opposite Dano in There Will Be Blood, came to his defense on Threads. Foy recalled seeing Tarantino and his reaction at a screening, which she said was different from what the edgy filmmaker shared with Ellis.
“Paul Dano and I played brother and sister in THERE WILL BE BLOOD. His incredible performance speaks for itself. I sat behind Quentin Tarantino at the Cast & Crew screening and he was legit vibing with Paul’s performance. His recent comments are incongruent with his reaction that night,” Foy wrote.
Quentin Tarantino is still figuring out what his next movie will be. Meanwhile, Paul Dano might have a return in The Batman 2 to prep for.
NEXT: Quentin Tarantino Raves About ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ – “I Really, Really Liked It, Really. A Lot.”
