Actor Paul Dano has finally spoken out after director Quentin Tarantino criticized his performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s seminal 2007 film There Will Be Blood. Tarantino also called Dano (who himself has been nominated for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and an Indie Spirit Award) “the weakest fucking actor in SAG.”
Ahead of the 20th anniversary screening of Little Miss Sunshine at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Dano was asked about Tarantino’s comments, but was shot down by co-star Toni Collette, saying, “Are you sure you’re going? That guy was fucked! He must have been high…he was a mess. Who would do that?”
Dano has never publicly commented on Tarantino’s diss, saying the compliments for his work that flooded social media say it all.
“It was really great,” Dano told Variety. “I was also very grateful that the world spoke up on my behalf so I didn’t have to.”
Little Miss Sunshine directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris also weighed in on the Tarantino controversy. Deighton called Tarantino’s comments “embarrassing,” adding, “I can only imagine that the rawness of his performance made Tarantino uncomfortable. There was no easy case against him.”
Faris said, “What’s interesting is that people have come out to defend Paul, right away…He’s loved by a lot of people. He’s very smart.”
Tarantino sparked a firestorm about two months ago when he appeared on Bret Easton Ellis’ podcast to discuss his ranking of the best movies of the 21st century. The director revealed that his first or second choice would be “There Will Be Blood,” but Dano’s performance pushed it to number five on his list.
“Obviously it’s supposed to be a two-handed weapon, but it’s also very clear that it’s not a two-handed weapon,” Tarantino told Ellis, referring to Dano and the film’s star, Daniel Day-Lewis. “[Dano]is a weak sauce. He’s the weak sister.[Daniel]is eating him[alive]. Austin Butler would have been great in that role. He’s just a really weak, weak, uninteresting guy. Daniel… Day-Lewis shows he doesn’t need a strong foil. The movie doesn’t need one. He’s supposed to be a two-handed weapon, and he’s not! …You paired him with the weakest of shitty actors? Is it the softest penis in the world? ”
Tarantino then tossed out Shade and two other cast members, saying he “didn’t care” about either Owen Wilson or Matthew Lillard as actors. Lillard responded to the diss at GalaxyCon in December, saying, “It’s disgusting. It’s disgusting. And you wouldn’t say that to Tom Cruise. You wouldn’t say that to a top Hollywood actor.”
Tarantino’s candor quickly backfired, and industry and fan support for Dano and his talent exploded. That included a knock from George Clooney, who accepted an award from AARP earlier this year and said Dano and the other actors Tarantino dissed were “a pleasure to work with.”
“Little Miss Sunshine,” set to hold its 20th anniversary screening Wednesday night here in Park City, marked a remarkable run as a box-office hit and Oscar winner that redefined what independent film success looks like. Stay tuned to Variety for more coverage of the event.
