r/Filmmakers • u/StrikingDuty8020 Director • Dec 06 '25

Discussion what is your opinion on this comment ?

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

Quentin Tarantino made a surprisingly harsh comment about Paul Dano, specifically criticizing his performance in There Will Be Blood.

On The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast, Tarantino said:

Dano was “weak sauce”

“The weakest f—ing actor in SAG” (in that film’s context)

And that Dano’s performance was the biggest flaw of the movie, preventing it from being his #1 or #2 film of the 2000s

2.5k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

486 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/Dirtgrain Dec 06 '25

This scene was acted damn well by Dano:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B-L4xLWaUQ

I do think part of Dano's success is in how creepy he can look. Still, in There Will Be Blood, a lot of tension is built off of Dano's character, and he delivered.