Quentin Tarantino has always been a cinephile and very vocal about his likes and dislikes. In a recent interview, he shared a list of his favorite films of the 21st century so far, and singled out 2007’s There Will Be Blood.
The Daniel Day-Lewis-starring film was in fifth place, but Tarantino pointed out it could’ve been higher had it not been for Paul Dano, who plays a dual role. He slammed the actor as the film’s “weak sauce.” Daniel Day-Lewis has publicly disagreed with Tarantino and praised Dano on his Instagram account.
The actor shared two clips from There Will Be Blood, writing in the caption, “Paul Dano is one of the best and most talented actors of his generation.”
On Dec. 9, Day-Lewis also re-posted on his Instagram Stories a top 10 of some of Dano’s best performances, as well as a post indicating that DC fans have a chance to get a signed copy of Dano’s graphic novel The Riddler: Year One, which would benefit Palestine.
In first place as Dano’s Best Performance was, undeniably, There Will Be Blood, followed by Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, Bill Pohlad’s Love and Mercy, Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton’s Little Miss Sunshine, Matt Reeves’ The Batman, Bong Joon Ho’s Okja, Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff, Rian Johnson’s Looper, and Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave.
Day-Lewis joins a wave of support from fellow actors Ben Stiller, Reese Witherspoon, and Simu Liu, all of whom praised Dano’s talent.
During the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast, Tarantino shared about There Will Be Blood: “The flaw is Paul Dano. 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.”
He continued that he would’ve preferred Austin Butler instead in the role because “[Dano] is just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy. The weakest fucking actor in SAG.”
After that, he went on to call out Owen Wilsom, whom he “really can’t stand,” and added, “I don’t care for him, I don’t care for Owen Wilson, and I don’t care for Matthew Lillard.”
Matthew Lillard Also Responded to Quentin Tarantino’s Criticism
Paramount Vantage/courtesy Everett Collection
Lillard has always been an extremely popular actor with the audience, and has turned into a scream king, thanks to his multiple horror roles. However, the actor himself admitted he hasn’t won over Hollywood the way he did with the audience.
During a recent appearance at GalaxyCon in Columbus, Ohio, Lillard also responded to Tarantino’s diss: “Quentin Tarantino this week said he didn’t like me as an actor. Eh, whatever. Who gives a s—,” he said on stage as the crowd booed.
However, the actor admitted, “It hurts your feelings. It f—in’ sucks,” he said. “And you wouldn’t say that to Tom Cruise. You wouldn’t say that to somebody who’s a top-line actor in Hollywood.” He added, “I’m very popular in this room. I’m not very popular in Hollywood. Two totally different microcosms, right? And so, you know, it’s humbling, and it hurts.”