The Young Philosopher
There Will Be Blood's Paul Dano gets better and better! Get to know more of this awesome young talent!
by Jed Medina

Impressive in his portrayals in coming of age films such as L.I.E, The Emperor's Club, and The Girl Next Door, Paul Dano has distinguished himself as a promising young actor with a knack for choosing the right roles and for showing dedication to his craft. With the success of Little Miss Sunshine and Fast Food Nation, Paul Dano remains one of the most credible young actors today. The buzz nowadays is his impressive portrayal of preacher Eli Sunday in the acclaimed There Will Be Blood.

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A native of Connecticut, Dano is also studying for a degree in English. Although he has had many diverse offers to play roles as a teen, he has opted to specialize in independent productions.

Paul is Howie. In the critically-acclaimed L.I.E., he won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance. As Howie, Dano plays a "15-year-old boy whose mother recently died in a car accident. Neglected by his father, Howie falls in with a group of boys who break into houses for kicks. After one break-in Howie is caught by Big John (Brian Cox), a former Marine with a taste for young boys. But the relationship that develops between Howie and Big John surprises them both. L.I.E. captures male adolescence more genuinely than any other film in recent memory; the realism of the relationships, particularly between Howie and his father, is completely compelling. "

After L.I.E., Dano was cast in a number of teen flicks and appeared in several TV episodes, most notably in The Sopranos. In an interview, he discussed being a young actor and being typecasted:

' I want to keep growing and keep doing interesting, different characters. I'm doing more independent films. I really love the independent scene. That's how I got started. I did 'L.I.E.' and it went so great for me, I won the Independent Spirit Award and it won several other awards. It blew my mind and opened up [opportunities]. I didn't even know about independent films before that. It just opened up the whole world of it to me. You also do have to make a living at some point. But I don't really care, I'm only 19 and I don't really care about making a shitload of money yet.

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Dwayne Rocks! In the highly acclaimed Little Miss Sunshine, “Paul plays Dwayne; an extremely angry Nietzsche-reading teenager who has taken a vow of silence until he is accepted into the Air Force Academy.” During the media blitz for the film, Paul had this to say during an interview with Cinematical:

" For me, the Dwayne character really popped out at me. As an actor, the whole being silent thing is a fairly unique experience. There's not that many times you get to do that. It was scary, but that's what also made it intriguing. And then, having a grandfather tuck a little girl in bed and give you this beautiful little moment, only to go in the bathroom and snort heroin – I thought, this script is great!"

Dano was asked if he learned anything from such a unique, yet challenging role and what he took away from not being able to talk:

' Yeah, definitely. The thing I took away from this whole silent thing was the ability to listen... because it's such an important part of acting. The thing I took away for myself was that not arguing puts you in such a position of power. At first, when I tried to do it with my parents, it was frustrating. You can't let it get frustrating. With Dwayne, it's frustrating, but I don't think he gives you 100% because then he'd be giving them satisfaction. He's, like, putting himself higher because he's not giving in to them or instigating them. If you argue with them, you're going to just get farther and farther away. Ya know? And so it was interesting to learn the power of silence.

Of Burgers and Cheese: For Fast Food Nation, Dano once again provided audiences with a delightfully memorable performance. Danny Peary at TimesSquare.com comments:

Dano’s small role in "Fast Food Nation" surely will solidify his reputation for giving dead-on performances as alienated youths. He plays Brian, who makes hamburgers at Mickey’s, complains about it, and probably does nothing else in his life. As the popular joke goes, he is one fry short of a Happy Meal.

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The press, having come to know the actor as a young man who can answer the most boring and the most insightful questions equally well, did manage to treat him seriously, unlike some young actors who seem to be trying too hard to impress….Dano is as witty as he is charming.

' Were you a fan of Richard Linklater’s before auditioning for “Fast Food Nation?”

A huge fan. “Dazed and Confused” was one of my favorite films when I was in high school. And I also really love “Slacker” and “Waking Life,” among others. So I wanted to be part of this film and auditioned to play Brian, who works at Mickey’s grilling hamburgers. When I met Rick I discovered he was super intelligent but a really down-to-earth, relaxed, chilled guy, just “a guy” who’s fun to hang out with. I was very glad he gave me the role.

Was getting the chance to work with him the main reason you wanted to do the film?

It was a part of it. I also liked the script by him and Eric Schlosser, and that it had social-political implications. But maybe the biggest factor was that I wanted to see some of the characters in Eric’s book come to life so that we’d better see the negative parts of the fast-food industry.

The young actor can also be seen in 'The King' where he played the young son of William Hurt.

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Next In Line: With an already impressive list of films to his credit, Dano will be seen next in Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are.

The Last Word: "I'm kind of at this weird point where I'm figuring out a lot of stuff: What kind of career do I want to have? What films do I want to be in?" The slightly wan, chilled-out young actor says he's happy he has the luxury of being picky, choosing only projects that he truly cares about. "That's the way I look at it. I am 22, and as long as I can pay my rent and go get a drink at the bar with my friends, I'm not looking for quick fixes."

Profile of Paul Dano written by Jed Medina, with excerpts from interviews with Mr. Dano from Cinematical and TimeSquare.com

Comments (6)

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written by nicole, February 15, 2008

paul is great

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written by George Cohan, February 25, 2008

Any relation to Royal Dano?

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written by Emily Williams, March 21, 2008

great actor and great selection of roles on his part. I am a huge movie buff and this guy stands out. not just because he is hot either.

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written by Aubrey, June 10, 2008

I hear a lot of people saying Paul Dano is taking himself too seriously.
I think it's good for him.
It's not always we get to see young actors who choose quality films over mindless popular stuff.

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written by rose, June 29, 2008

He is by far one of my favorite actors. I saw him in Little Miss Sunshine and he stood out to me the whole time, even though he didn't say anything for pretty much the whole movie! I've watched alot of movies that he has been in since then. He seems really cool and down to earth. I'd love to meet him.

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written by Olli, July 22, 2008

Hehe, well...since I'm marrying him someday....I was wondering if he has a girlfriend. But all that aside, (the whole Hes-the-sexiest-man-on-earth thing) I love everything about him. His personality, his band (especially), and his seriousness when it comes to his roles.

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