Just like fellow young actors Jamie Bell, Lou Taylor Pucci, Emile Hirsch and Daniel Radcliffe, Paul Dano started out young in acting. While his contemporaries may have starred in pleasant and even comedic films, Dano's acting debut was a bit different.

Says filmcritic.com:

"Dano is quiet and at first glance seems so withdrawn as to be transparent. We’re so used to child actors whose dramatic choices are broad and obvious (calling Haley Joel!), it’s surprising to see one who actually listens throughout any given scene. The restraint is admirable. "

Dano went on to win four acting awards for this role. The indie film opened many doors for the young actor, and since then, he's found a way to excel in every role he undertakes. He was awesome in the Emile Hirsch-starrer, The Girl Next Door, although he only played a supporting part. He also held his own admirably against Gael Garcia Bernal in the James Marsch film, The King.

But it was in Little Miss Sunshine that mainstream audience finally got to know him.

"As the non-talking, Nietzsche-worshipping, red-Vans-wearing member of the dysfunctional Hoover family in the quirky Sundance darling Little Miss Sunshine, Paul Dano has joined the ranks of Maggie Simpson, Silent Bob, Rudy's chubby friend Peter from The Cosby Show and Charlie Chaplin as one of the greatest non-talkers of all time. On staying silent for a good chunk of Little Miss, Dano says, "That was a big learning experience, for real." (from Paper Mag.)

Paul who did an extensive interview with cinematical went on to say:

"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! "

In the same year, Paul also starred in the film Fast Food Nation. An ensemble piece based on the best-selling non-fiction book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, the film is about the health risks involved in the fast food industry and its environmental and physical consequences.

2007 was a big year for Paul Dano. Playing one of the major roles in PT Anderson's epic There Will Be Blood, the young actor relished the opportunity to act opposite acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Day-Lewis, who is known for his dedication to his roles and is quite intense on the set, is a big challenge for some, and many are reported to have been quite intimidated by him.

This is not their first time together in a film - in 2005 both actors starred in The Ballad of Jack and Rose - a feature directed by Day-Lewis's wife Rebecca Miller.

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Paul Liberman of the LA Times wrote a very interesting article about the movie and in one of the passages, he dwelt on Paul Dano's story of being chosen for the role:

Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson at first envisioned having a boy of 12 or 13 play the fledgling preacher in "There Will Be Blood," the character who takes on the ruthless oilman played by Daniel Day-Lewis. But after deciding that such casting was "ridiculous," Anderson still didn't give the part to Dano, who had auditioned for it just off his success as the brooding, mute older brother in the black comedy "Little Miss Sunshine." Although Dano did get a small role in the oil epic — as the preacher's brother Paul — that character had only one scene, so he brought little more than a change of underwear and a fresh T-shirt to the remote shoot in Texas.

The principals in the film are diplomatic when asked whether it's true that the actor who had been slated to play the preacher had to be replaced — within days — because he wasn't up to going head-to-head with Day-Lewis's intensity.

"Whatever the problem was," insists Day-Lewis, "I absolutely don't believe it was because he was intimidated by me."

But Dano, who was 22 at the time of the filming, understood what he was getting into when he leaped up to second billing, suddenly playing the preacher, Eli Sunday. He'd worked with Day-Lewis once before, after all — on 2005's "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" — and had gotten videos of most of the Ireland-based actor's other films, including "Gangs of New York," in which Day-Lewis as the murderous Bill the Butcher arguably overwhelmed the actor who played his foil, Leonardo DiCaprio.

When the camera light goes on, you see why Day-Lewis is "known to be extreme in his investment in his work," as Dano puts it. The point is, either that scares the bejesus out of you, or it doesn't.

"I think that is something to sort of be turned on by rather than be scared by," Dano says. "You know, it's like a game almost."

So, "when I first got down in Texas and we figured out this whole part thing" — that he'd play the preacher who is instantly wary of oilman Daniel Plainview — "we talked about it a little bit." Then? "Once we started working, I don't think we spoke to each other much at all."

That's a game? "You know, if he's not gonna say anything to me or look me in the eye, you know ... I'm gonna give that right back to him."

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For more of Paul Dano and his role in the film, watch this youtube video!

The Final Word: Along with the Paul Thomas Anderson drama There Will Be Blood, which re-teams Dano with his Ballad of Jack and Rose co-star Daniel Day-Lewis, the other movie in the can for the young actor is something called Where the Wild Things Are. Helmed by another distinctive American filmmaker, Spike Jonz, it is slated to come out in 2008 and features the voices of not just Dano but also folks such as Michelle Williams and 2006 National Board of Review honorees Catherine O’Hara and Forest Whitaker. “We filmed with the actors that are playing the Wild Things, like a workshop situation where we had a ton of digital cameras,” Dano explains. “We acted every scene out and we’d workshop it, we’d improvise, we’d build relationships. It was almost like a play. It was a lot of fun.”

Also see: tMF Profile of Paul Dano | Film feature: There Will be Blood

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Comments (2)

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I believe Paul Dano is one of the most amazing actors out there and I look forward to seeing more of him!

marie , February 22, 2008

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I absolutely adore Paul Dano.There's no actor comparable to him.What a talent!

kathy , February 23, 2008

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