Hollywood Heavyweights Rally Behind Paul Dano After Quentin Tarantino's Comments

Quentin Tarantino was being very much Quentin Tarantino this week: blunt, entertaining, and guaranteed to start an argument. He dropped his Top 10 Movies of the 21st Century on The Bret Easton Ellis podcast, slotted There Will Be Blood at number five, and then said he would have ranked it even higher if not for one thing — Paul Dano.

Tarantino’s take

Tarantino says the movie was meant to be a two-hander — basically a story anchored by two leads — but that Dano doesn’t hold the other end opposite Daniel Day-Lewis. He also floated an alternate-universe casting while he was at it.

'There Will Be Blood would stand a good chance at being #1 or #2 if it didn’t have a big, giant flaw in it ... and 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. Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy. The weakest fcking actor in SAG.'

That’s… a lot. The Butler name-drop is a curveball, and the 'weakest in SAG' line is obviously designed to detonate Twitter on impact.

Who rushed to back Dano

The blowback was immediate. Variety says the comments lit a fire under Dano’s fanbase inside the industry, and a few recognizable folks stepped up publicly:

• Simu Liu (Kim’s Convenience, Shang-Chi) on X, Dec. 4: 'idk man i think paul dano is an incredible actor'
• Mattson Tomlin (The Batman Part II screenwriter) on X, Dec. 3: 'I 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.'
• Dillon Freasier — who played H.W. Plainview opposite Daniel Day-Lewis — told TMZ the film is 'perfect' and added, 'It’s a work of art. And it’s that way because everyone was perfectly cast.'

Meanwhile in Gotham

Tomlin jumping into the fray might be more than just kindness. It’s not confirmation of anything, but it does read like a friendly signal that Dano could still be in the mix for The Batman Part II. He played the Riddler in the first film and, last we saw, the character was locked up, so it’s unclear how or if he fits into the sequel.

Separate but related DC news: Deadline says Scarlett Johansson is in final talks to join The Batman: Part II alongside Robert Pattinson. No word on the role yet. If that deal closes, it keeps Johansson’s dance card very busy — she just signed on for Mike Flanagan’s new Exorcist movie and is likely coming back for the follow-up to Jurassic World: Rebirth.

So… was Dano the problem?

Look, Day-Lewis giving a generational performance tends to warp the field around him. Whether you think Dano matched him probably depends on how you see Eli Sunday: foil, equal, or sacrificial lamb to Plainview’s black hole. Tarantino’s take is loud, but the counterpunch from people who worked with Dano — and people currently writing movies he might appear in — says plenty too.

Where do you land on Dano in There Will Be Blood — underpowered, perfectly cast, or somewhere in between? And if he pops back up in The Batman Part II, do you want more of his Riddler or prefer the sequel go a different direction?