Paul Dano is speaking out about Quentin Tarantino calling him the \u201cweakest actor\u201d in the Screen Actors Guild.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Ruby Sparks star was asked by Variety<\/a> about the director\u2019s comments ahead of a 20th anniversary screening of Little Miss Sunshine at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie, in which Dano starred alongside Toni Collette as well as Steve Carell and Abigail Breslin, marked his breakthrough role in Hollywood.<\/p>\n Collette answered Variety\u2019s question ahead of Dano, saying, \u201cAre we really going there? F*** that guy! He must\u2019ve been high. \u2026 It was just confusing. Who does that?\u201d<\/p>\n Dano, for his part, said that the tributes to his performances moved him, telling the outlet, \u201cThat was really nice. I was also incredibly grateful that the world spoke up for me so I didn\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n What did Quentin Tarantino say about Paul Dano?\u00a0<\/p>\n The comments come more than a month after Tarantino, known for helming films like Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time\u2026 in Hollywood, appeared on author Bret Easton Ellis\u2019s podcast<\/a>, where he slammed Dano\u2019s performance in the 2007 film There Will Be Blood. In the interview, he praised the film, for which Daniel Day-Lewis took home the Best Actor Oscar, but told Ellis it would rank higher for him if it didn\u2019t have \u201ca big giant flaw in it\u201d \u2014 that flaw being Dano.<\/p>\n \u201c[Dano] is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister. [Daniel] is eating him [alive]. Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. He\u2019s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy,\u201d Tarantino said.\u00a0\u201cDaniel Day-Lewis shows that he doesn\u2019t need a strong foil. The movie needs it. He doesn\u2019t need anything.\u201d<\/p>\n When Ellis suggested that Day-Lewis\u2019s role may have needed the type of performance opposite him, Tarantino responded with, \u201cYou put him with the weakest f***ing actor in SAG? The limpest d*** in the world?\u201d<\/p>\n Tarantino also stated that he \u201cdidn\u2019t care for\u201d actors Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard, either.<\/p>\n Tarantino\u2019s comments were met with swift backlash, with Lillard himself telling the crowd at GalaxyCon<\/a> in December that his feelings were hurt by the mention. Many fans also criticized Tarantino for coming after such beloved stars<\/a>, particularly since his comments were completely unprompted.<\/p>\n Many of Dano\u2019s Hollywood peers have defended the actor specifically, pointing to the widespread critical acclaim he\u2019s received for performances in films like The Power of the Dog, Love and Mercy, Prisoners, Swiss Army Man and Ruby Sparks.<\/p>\n The Batman director Matt Reeves took to X<\/a> to write that the star, who played the Riddler in the movie, is an \u201cincredible actor and an incredible person.\u201d<\/p>\n Mattson Tomlin, who wrote The Batman 2, out in 2027, wrote in his own post on X<\/a>, \u201cI am really pleased to see so many people cheer on Paul Dano this week. Not only is he a terrific actor, but he’s an astonishing director who exudes control and tremendous empathy. Check out WILDLIFE if you haven’t seen it.\u201d<\/p>\n And other actors also shared their own pro-Dano opinions, with Simu Liu writing on X<\/a>, \u201cidk man i think paul dano is an incredible actor.\u201d Stranger Things alum Dacre Montgomery also recently told Yahoo, \u201cContrary to Quentin Tarantino, I\u2019d love to work with Paul Dano.\u201d And Ben Stiller shared on X<\/a> that \u201cPaul Dano is f-ing brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n