Imagine being Paul Dano, one of the most reserved actors around, and suddenly, and most randomly, being called out by Quentin Tarantino for being the “limpest dick” in town. Not just that—you’re then thrust to the top of the cultural news cycle for 48 hours (and counting).
This is more press than Dano has ever gotten in his entire career. He’s probably been offered more projects this week than in the last few months combined. It certainly helps that many of his colleagues have come out to defend him from Tarantino’s wrath. The list keeps growing.
The latest, and most notable name, has got to be Dano’s “Batman” director, Matt Reeves who described him as an “incredible actor” and “incredible person.” Paul Thomas Anderson’s wife, Maya Rudolph, also posted a still of Dano on her Instagram stories. Alec Baldwin—yeah, I know—had a video dedicated to him. Shang-Chi weighed in with his defense on X. Ben Stiller, who directed Dano in “Escape from Dannemora,” had nothing but praise for the actor.
The pushback has to do with Tarantino’s 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. Tarantino said the film would have probably topped his list had it not had a big, giant flaw in it: Paul Dano.
He discussed how the film what was meant to be a “two-hander,” arguing that it was “drastically obvious” the balance simply didn’t work. In his view, Dano was “weak sauce,” even calling him “the weak sister” of the production. Tarantino didn’t stop there, piling on with “weak, weak, uninteresting guy,” and capping it with a laugh as he labeled Dano “the weakest fcking actor in SAG.”
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?”
Hollywood runs on diplomacy and careful alliances, and most know better than to publicly gut an actor like this, but Tarantino doesn’t seem particularly interested in playing those unspoken rules, and he certainly doesn’t appear worried about any professional blowback either. Tarantino was just being Tarantino.
Duffield's "Whalefall," the survival thriller about a diver swallowed by a sperm whale, is heading toward a roughly $7M-ish opening weekend, according to the most recent Saturday update.