Quentin Tarantino calls Paul Dano “the weakest fucking actor in SAG”
Quentin Tarantino has finalised his list of the best movies of the 21st century. However, it wasn’t all praise as Tarantino hit out at actor Paul Dano for his performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 movie, There Will Be Blood.
While chatting on a new episode of the Bret Easton Ellis podcast, Tarantino named There Will Be Blood as his fifth favourite movie of the twenty-first century.
As is to be expected, Tarantino started with a torrent of praise for the movie: “Daniel Day-Lewis. The old-style craftsmanship is evident in the film. It had an old Hollywood craftsmanship without trying to be like that.”
In the film, Day-Lewis plays Daniel Plainview, a ruthless oilman who seeks to become the most powerful oil tycoon. Alongside Day-Lewis, Dano plays twins Eli Sunday and Paul Sunday.
The Kill Bill director insisted the movie stands apart in Anderson’s filmography, as “it was the only film he’s ever done, and I brought it up to him, that doesn’t have a set piece. The fire is the closest to a set piece. This was about dealing with the narrative, dealing with the story, and he did it fucking amazingly.”
However, Tarantino admitted that he would have placed the film much higher on his list had they removed Dano.
The director shared, “There Will Be Blood would stand a good chance at being one or two if it didn’t have a big, giant flaw in it … and the flaw is Paul Dano.”
He added of Dano, “Obviously, it’s supposed to be a two-hander, but it’s also drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander.”
Tarantino continued, “He is weak sauce, man. He’s a weak sister. Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. [Dano is] just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy. The weakest fucking actor in SAG [Screen Actors Guild].”
Dano has yet to respond to the comments.
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