Quentin Tarantino has a scathing critique for Paul Dano. This week, the beloved filmmaker decided to tear into the actors’ performance in There Will Be Blood. During an appearance on the Brett Easton Ellis Podcast, Tarantino was listing off his favorite movies and the Paul Thomas Anderson film came up. Then, basically out of nowhere, he just started trashing Dano. It’s a little bit bizarre, and the Internet at large is completely thrown by this beef, or lack thereof?
Dano’s acting in the 2007 film is widely celebrated. Tarantino is not alone in having the Paul Thomas Anderson film ranked so highly. But, in the film makers estimation, Daniel Day-Lewis deserved a better scene partner than what the younger actor was giving. It’s all very messy, and that penchant for tossing a hot take out there is what makes a lot of folks love Tarantino as a director. You should check out the comments for yourself down below, and see if he’s right.
Quentin Tarantino disses Paul Dano
Tarantino would call There Will Be Blood his fifth-favorite movie of the last 25 years. The 62-year-old said, “It would stand a better chance to be in number one or number two if it didn’t have a big giant flaw in it. And the flaw is Paul Dano.” He added, “ Obviously, it’s supposed to be a two-hander, and it’s also so drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander.”
“He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy. . . Daniel Day-Lewis shows that he doesn’t need [a strong foil in the movie]” Tarantino continued. “He doesn’t need anything. The movie would’ve had more — there would’ve been more stringiness to the beef. And again, it’s supposed to be a two-hander, and it’s not.”
Austin Butler is involved because???
There Will Be Blood being almost universally celebrated makes this whole aside pretty bizarre. It won two Academy Awards after all. But, Tarantino calling Paul Dano “weak sauce” and then saying, “Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role.” The Batman star just caught astray for no real reason. But, the director feels how he feels. don’t worry, he had more to say!
Tarantino would also ask why they paired Daniel Day-Lewis with this particular actor. He asked, “So you put him with the weakest male actor in SAG? The limpest dick in the world?”
“I’m not saying he’s giving a terrible performance,” Tarantino quickly clarified. “I’m saying he’s giving a non-entity [performance]. I don’t care for him. I don’t care for Owen Wilson, I don’t care for Matthew Lillard.”
This whole deal is beyond strange. A lot of folks just woke up and had this dropped in their timelines and responded with curiosity. There Will Be Blood still rips. Paul Thomas Anderson is enjoying a wildly successful year in theaters. And, Tarantino’s doing just fine for himself too. Everybody’s winning, but there’s always room for some beef. Who knows what the film Twitter favorite will have to say next?
(Photo Credit: Warner Bros, Paramount, getty)
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