3 minutes of readingNew DelhiUpdated: Jan 29, 2026 07:11 pm IST
Director Quentin Tarantino is often celebrated for its peculiarities and peculiarities, Because that’s arguably what makes him such a successful director. However, he sometimes finds himself on the losing side of battle when his antics are poorly received. That happened when he called actor Paul Dano and rated his acting skills. He accused Dano of not being up to par and being an unnecessary addition to films such as There Will Be Blood (2007).
In a media interaction ahead of the 20th anniversary screening of Little Miss Sunshine, Dano was asked about Tarantino’s comments. Before he could say a word, his co-star Toni Collette intervened and said, “We’re really going there? Screw that guy! He must have been on drugs… it was just confusing. Who does that?” Dano told Variety: “That was really nice. I was also incredibly grateful that the world spoke for me so I didn’t have to.”
The World Definitely Spoken by Paul Danosince multiple actors and directors came to his support. One of the first was The Copenhagen Test star Simu Liu, who wrote on X: “I don’t know, man. I think Paul Dano is an amazing actor.” Ben Stiller wrote: “Paul Dano is fucking brilliant.” Batman director Matt Reeves tweeted: “Paul Dano is an incredible actor and an incredible person.”
Frame from There will be blood. (Photo: IMDb)
Unknown, a couple of months ago, Quentin Tarantino participated in Brett Easton Ellis’ podcast. He talked about his ranking of the best films of the 21st century and landed on There Will Be Blood, by Paul Thomas Anderson. He said he would have put that movie at number one or two, but Paul Dano’s performance is the reason it comes in fifth place. Speaking about Dano’s scene with Daniel Day-Lewis, Tarantino said: “Obviously, it’s supposed to be two-handed. But it’s also obviously obvious that it’s not two-handed. Dano is weak sauce, man. He’s the weak sister. (Daniel) is eating him (alive). Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role.”
The comments obviously opened the floodgates in Hollywood, as many members of the fraternity rushed to support Dano.