Bold claim: Quentin Tarantino isn’t shy about calling out acting performances, and this time the target is Paul Dano. Tarantino, now 62, has shared his Top 20 films of the 21st century, and one of his picks is Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 drama There Will Be Blood. While he praised the movie overall, he didn’t hold back about Dano’s dual role as Eli and Paul Sunday.
During an appearance on The Brett Easton Ellis Podcast, Tarantino said he enjoyed the film and Daniel Day-Lewis, and he even suggested the movie could rank higher on his list. However, he attributed a major flaw to Dano, insisting that although the film is meant to be a two-hander, Dano’s performance makes the pairing feel unbalanced. He described Dano as “weak sauce,” calling him the weakest actor in SAG and even suggesting Austin Butler could have been a better fit for the role.
This isn’t Tarantino’s first critique of Dano in the movie. Previously, he noted that while Dano’s portrayal wasn’t terrible, it felt compromised and not on par with Day-Lewis. In Tarantino’s metaphor, the two brothers are meant to clash throughout the film, with Day-Lewis representing Muhammad Ali and Dano more like Jerry Corey, underscoring the disparity Tarantino perceives between the two performances.
On Dano’s side, the actor has explained that he joined both roles at the last minute after the Eli Sunday actor dropped out. With only about three to four days to prepare, Dano chose to rely on instinct and collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis, trusting the process and delivering a fearless, improvised take.
In other film news, one of Tarantino’s popular titles is returning to theaters this weekend for a special engagement, giving fans another chance to revisit his distinctive storytelling on the big screen.
