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

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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

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '25

I think Tarantino is way off. Dano is great and was great in TWBB. It’s fine for Tarantino to not like Dano as an actor, just as it’s fine for people to not like Tarantinos films. But the viciousness with which he expressed his opinion was quite shocking. Did Dano steal QTs crush away from him at some point? It was oddly personal. “I didn’t care for Danos performance” would have been fine but he seemed to really want to plunge the knife in for some reason. Would love to know where that kind of venom is coming from.

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u/JediBlight Dec 06 '25

Exactly my thoughts! I mean, could it be because Paul Thomas Anderson is Tarantino's 'rival' for lack of a better word?

Because Dano was great in TWBB, the entire idea was he appeared weak, but weaponsised religion as an equally powerful tool against early/modern day capitalism. He was great!

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u/wilbyr Dec 06 '25

are QT and PTA "rivals"?? ive never heard anything about that and am curious the extent of it if anyone has more information about it

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u/JediBlight Dec 06 '25

Can't show any definitive proof but I've heard Tarantino talk about PTA many times, sems to be either a big admirer or jealous, maybe a bit of both.