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It all started with Quentin Tarantino ranking his top 20 movies in The Bret Eason Ellis podcast, until he mentioned his thoughts about There Will Be Blood, particularly involving Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano's performances and chemistry.
Here's how the actors responded.
What Did Quentin Tarantino Say About Paul Dano's There Will Be Blood Performance?
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The Pulp Fiction director was gushing about Daniel Day-Lewis's performance, which, to him, added more flavor to There Will Be Blood, stating: "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 f***ing amazingly."
In the film, Day-Lewis plays a ruthless oilman who wants to build an oil empire in early 20th-century California, where his character often clashed with the bitter rival, Eli Sunday (played by Paul Dano). Tarantino's comments, however, took a turn when he brought Dano's performance into the spotlight.
"There Will Be Blood would stand a good chance at being #1 or #2 if it didn't have a big, giant flaw in it [...] and the flaw is Paul Dano," Tarantino said, "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."
To make the comment worse, Tarantino continued to describe Dano as "such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy." If anything, "the weakest f***ing actor in SAG."
Since his comments, people in Hollywood, including The Legend of Shang-Chi's Simu Liu, The Batman Part II writer Mattson Tomlin, and The Batman director Matt Reeves, voiced out to defend Paul Dano. One other prominent celebrity also took a stance amid the chaos...
How Did Daniel Day-Lewis Defend Co-Star Paul Dano?
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As reported by CBR.com, a Daniel Day-Lewis Instagram fan account dedicated to the renowned actor shared two clips from There Will Be Blood, where the actor performed opposite Dano. The post was captioned, "Paul Dano is one of the best and most talented actors of his generation", which brought fans to question whether the actor himself posted it.
In a statement to The Guardian, Daniel Day-Lewis clarified that the account and the post were not his. But here's the big twist: Day-Lewis still shares the same sentiment as the fan who posted it in defense of Dano.
Per the publication, "Day-Lewis's representatives added that the actor—who suggested Dano for the role in There Will Be Blood after the original actor dropped out at short notice—endorsed the sentiments." Despite The Age of Innocence star not being the man behind the post, his reps pretty much declared he, too, supports Dano.
The mentioned account continued to share various slides, each portraying Dano's performances in films like Prisoners, Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood, The Batman, and 12 Years a Slave.
What do you think about Tarantino's statements? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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