Paul Dano’s fellow actors are rushing to defend him after Quentin Tarantino called him the “weakest f--king actor in SAG.”
Tarantino, 62, stirred up controversy on Tuesday when he slammed the actor’s performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood during an appearance on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast.
Alec Baldwin posted a video on his Instagram stories to defend Dano. “I just wanna say I love Paul Dano,” Baldwin told his 2.6 million followers. “And if you don’t love Paul Dano... shhhh,” he added.
Zoolander star Ben Stiller was also quick to share his support. Stiller directed Dano in the 2018 crime drama Escape to Dannemora. The Showtime production also featured Benicio Del Toro and Patricia Arquette.
Stiller posted on X “Paul Dano is f-ing brilliant.”
David Krumholtz, who appeared with Dano in The Studio earlier this year, quickly reacted to the insult. “Let’s face it. We are all Paul Dano today,” wrote Krumholtz, 47, on Threads.
The Little Miss Sunshine actor also got support from Disney stars Josh Gad and Simu Liu. Gad, 44, wrote on Threads, “Not sure who needs to hear this, but Paul Dano is one of the best actors of our time. Full stop.”
Liu, 36, tweeted simply, “idk man I think Paul Dano is an incredible actor.”
The director’s comments came during a profanity-laced podcast segment in which he was asked to name his favorite films of the 21st century.
Tarantino said the 2007 film—which stars Dano alongside Daniel Day-Lewis—was his fifth favorite film of the century, but would be ranked higher were it not for Dano’s performance.
“He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy,” Tarantino said of Dano, 41. “[The film is] supposed to be a two-hander and it’s not! …You put [Day-Lewis] with the weakest f--king actor in SAG? The limpest d--k in the world?”
Dano has been nominated for four Screen Actors Guild awards, winning in 2007 for his work in Little Miss Sunshine. His role as identical twin brothers Paul and Eli Sunday in There Will Be Blood earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Two of Dano’s There Will Be Blood co-stars also stepped in to defend the actor. Dillon Freasier, who portrayed H.W. Plainview, the son of Daniel Day-Lewis’ Daniel Plainview, told TMZ on Wednesday that the film “perfect” and “a work of art.”
“It’s that way because everyone was perfectly cast,” added Freasier, 29.
Colleen Foy, who portrayed Mary Sunday, the sister of Dano’s identical twin characters, wrote on Threads that Dano’s “incredible performance speaks for itself.”
“I sat behind Quentin Tarantino at the Cast & Crew screening and he was legit vibing with Paul’s performance,” wrote Foy. “His recent comments are incongruent with his reaction that night.”
However, Tarantino had another idea about who should have taken Dano’s role. “[Dano] is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister,” he told Ellis on Tuesday. “Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role.”
Butler previously appeared in Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood as Manson Family member Tex Watson.
Screenwriter Mattson Tomlin, who is currently writing the script for The Batman: Part II, was also quick to come to Dano’s defense.
“I am really pleased to see so many people cheer on Paul Dano this week,” wrote Tomlin on X on Wednesday after fans began tweeting in support of the actor. “Not only is he a terrific actor, but he’s an astonishing director who exudes control and tremendous empathy.”
Dano appeared as The Riddler in the 2022 first installment of The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson. However, the actor has not yet confirmed whether he will appear in the film’s sequel, which is set to release in 2027.
Tomlin’s post also encouraged fans to watch Wildlife, Dano’s 2018 directorial debut starring Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Dano wasn’t the only actor to merit Tarantino’s ire during his podcast appearance. The Kill Bill director went on to name two more stars he “can’t stand”: Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard. However, he added that Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, which stars Wilson, was another of his favorite films.
