Following a surprising public critique from director Quentin Tarantino in December, actor Paul Dano received backing from colleagues like Daniel Day-Lewis and Ben Stiller. Now, about a month later, he’s showing his appreciation by returning the support.
At a Sundance Film Festival event celebrating the 20th anniversary of “Little Miss Sunshine,” actor Steve Dano finally responded to Quentin Tarantino’s recent controversial statements. He told Variety that the outpouring of support he received “was really nice.”
I was listening to Bret Easton Ellis’ podcast the other day, and Quentin Tarantino was on there sharing his top 10 films of the century. He put Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘There Will Be Blood’ at number five, which isn’t a huge surprise, but his reasoning was…interesting. He wasn’t a fan of Paul Dano’s performance as Eli Sunday, actually, he felt Dano himself was the biggest weakness in an otherwise fantastic film. Considering Daniel Day-Lewis gives such a powerhouse performance as Daniel Plainview, it’s a bold take, but Tarantino definitely stuck to his guns.
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Park City always brings on the warm fuzzies, but this year’s festival didn’t shy away from challenging films right out of the gate. I was particularly struck by Casper Kelly’s “Buddy” and Charli XCX’s experimental piece, “The Moment” – both definitely sparked some conversation and weren’t afraid to push boundaries.
In 2007, film critic Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called Paul Dano’s performance “smoothly effective” and praised his talent. However, Quentin Tarantino clearly didn’t share that opinion.
Tarantino dismissed the actor as unconvincing and uninteresting, repeatedly calling him ‘weak.’ He suggested Austin Butler, who was a rising star on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon at the time the role was cast, would have been a stronger choice.
Tarantino added: “You put [Day-Lewis] with the the weakest f— actor in SAG?”
As a big movie fan, I was really disheartened to hear about the stuff surrounding Paul Dano, but it was heartening to see so many people rush to his defense. Ben Stiller, who worked with him on “Escape at Dannemora,” called him a brilliant actor, and Reese Witherspoon remembered him from “Inherent Vice” as both incredibly talented and a true gentleman. It wasn’t just them, though – Matt Reeves, Josh Gad, Alec Baldwin, and Simu Liu all publicly supported him. It’s easy to see why, considering his fantastic work in films like Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” Bong Joon Ho’s “Okja,” and even the wonderfully weird “Swiss Army Man” from Daniels. He’s clearly a respected and versatile actor.
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Dano explained at the Sundance screening that he really appreciated the public support he received, saying it took a weight off his shoulders.
Before Dano even had a chance to answer, Toni Collette – you might remember her as his mom in “Little Miss Sunshine” – jumped in with a pretty blunt take. She basically dismissed Quentin Tarantino, suggesting he must have been under the influence when he came up with whatever we were talking about. It was a surprisingly candid moment!
Honestly, I was just totally lost! That’s what she said in Variety, and it really resonated with me. Apparently, the directors of ‘Little Miss Sunshine,’ Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, felt the same way – they weren’t fans of Tarantino’s choices, but they did have great things to say about the actor involved.
In a December podcast, Quentin Tarantino also criticized actors Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard. Lillard recently responded in an Entertainment Weekly interview, saying he appreciated the outpouring of support he received on social media afterward. He described it as ‘like living through your own wake,’ meaning people were celebrating his work.
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He said it’s really touching to see all the tributes people share online after someone dies – the RIP emails, social media posts, everything. He added that experiencing all that support while still being alive was incredibly heartwarming, and he couldn’t have asked for a nicer response to what happened.
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2026-01-30 02:31