Quentin Tarantino's Paul Dano Comments Cause Pushback: “The Weakest Actor in SAG"

Quite honestly? I didn’t expect the backlash Quentin Tarantino was going to get for criticizing Paul Dano’s acting chops. I get it, what he did was probably not the wisest thing to do in an online culture where every word gets dissected, every sentence gets mulled over, but Tarantino was just being Tarantino. He’s always been honest about his feelings and sees himself as a movie fan — maybe his second life would have been as a film critic — who knows.

The pushback he’s been getting has to do with his guest appearance on the Bret Easton Ellis podcast, where he unveiled his best-of-the-21st-century list, which included “There Will Be Blood” at #5, but Tarantino said that the film would have probably topped his list had it not had a big, giant flaw in it: Paul Dano.

Obviously, it’s supposed to be a two-hander, but it’s also drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander. [Dano] is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister. Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy […] The weakest fcking actor in SAG [laughs]

Ellis tried to defend Dano’s performance. “Daniel Day-Lewis also makes it impossible to make it a two-hander because there are aspects of that performance that are so gargantuan,” the “American Psycho” author said.

“So, you put him with the weakest male actor in SAG?” Tarantino shot back. “The limpest dick in the world?” He later clarified, “I’m not saying he’s giving a terrible performance. I’m saying he’s giving a non-entity performance.”

Ellis then asked whether Tarantino had ever liked Dano in anything. “I don’t care for him,” the filmmaker replied. “I don’t care for him, I don’t care for Owen Wilson, and I don’t care for Matthew Lillard.”

I mean, where to begin? I’ve certainly never touted Dano as a great actor, but he’s never bothered me and consistently worked with great filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Steve McQueen, Bong Joon-ho, Denis Villeneuve, Spike Jonze, Kelly Reichardt, Rian Johnson, and Ang Lee. I don’t know, man. Tarantino’s opinion is certainly not a hill I’m willing to die on.

Let’s take a look at Dano’s filmography. Which performance stands out the most? His Eli Sunday/Paul Sunday work in “There Will Be Blood” is certainly up there. He was great in “Prisoners,” speaking very little but with a physical stillness that brought constant unease to the viewer. Dano was also stellar as Brian Wilson in “Love and Mercy,” nailing the inner demons that haunted the late Beach Boys singer.

So, yeah, I’m not exactly sure what Tarantino’s deal is with Dano, but it’s just his opinion; he seems to see himself as some kind of film critic, and he’s certainly a major fan of Pauline Kael’s work, who was known as a fearlessly opinionated critic. This might just be Tarantino’s inner Paulette springing up by ruthlessly criticizing. Still, he’s not a film critic — he’s an established Hollywood director, and the unwritten rule is not to be so blunt about your peers.