A few months ago, Quentin Tarantino gave an interview in which he ranked the “best films” of the 21st century. Within that discussion, Tarantino insulted and disrespected several actors, including Matthew Lillard and Paul Dano. QT was really venomous about Dano’s performance in There Will Be Blood in particular, which is weird because Dano’s performance in that movie was actually pretty wonderful. What happened after Tarantino’s interview was amazing for Dano though – a stream of actors, directors and producers coming out publicly to talk about how Dano is a great actor and an even better human being. He got so much industry love, it was really beautiful to see how much people respect him and like him. Throughout it all, Dano said nothing – he just kept his head down and kept working. Well, Dano is attending Sundance for a 20th-anniversary event for Little Miss Sunshine. Variety asked him about the Tarantino stuff.

Actor Paul Dano has finally spoken out after Quentin Tarantino dissed his performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s seminal 2007 film “There Will Be Blood.” Tarantino also called Dano — himself an Emmy, Golden Globe and Indie Spirit Award nominee — the “weakest fucking actor in SAG.”

Ahead of a 20th anniversary screening of “Little Miss Sunshine” at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Dano was asked about Tarantino’s comment but was beat to the punch by co-star Toni Collette, who said: “Are we really going there? F–k that guy! He must’ve been high… it was just confusing. Who does that?”

Dano never commented publicly on Tarantino’s diss and said all of the tributes to his work that poured in across social media spoke for themselves.

“That was really nice,” Dano told Vairety. “I was also incredibly grateful that the world spoke up for me so I didn’t have to.”

“Little Miss Sunshine” directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris also weighed in the Tarantino controversy. Dayton called Tarantino’s remarks an “embarrassment,” adding: “I can only think that his rawness of his performance made Tarantino uncomfortable. He couldn’t be easily filed.”

Faris noted, “You know what was interesting was the people coming out to defend Paul. There was immediately… he is loved by so many. He is so smart.”

[From Variety]

I’m so glad that so many of Dano’s colleagues spoke up for him, and I wish he didn’t even have to see Tarantino’s bullsh-t. Ethan Hawke (of all people) made some excellent points about this controversy, one of which was that Dano probably never realized how beloved he is within the industry. If Dano had any kind of bad reputation or gossip about his professionalism, people would have just let Tarantino’s comments slide. But Dano keeps his nose clean, he shows up and turns in great performances constantly, and he treats his colleagues well.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.