He was highly critical of 'The Batman' actor's role in Paul Thomas Anderson's 'There Will Be Blood'
By Damian Jones 3rd December 2025
Quentin Tarantino and Paul Dano CREDIT: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images/Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Quentin Tarantino has branded actor Paul Dano a “weak, uninteresting guy”.
- READ MORE: Paul Dano: “Nirvana became a part of my Riddler”
The legendary director, who has made classic movies like Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill over his career, was speaking about The Batman star when he named his top 20 films of the 21st century.
AdvertisementTarantino ranked Ridley Scott‘s 2001 war film Black Hawk Down as his top film but said that Paul Thomas Anderson‘s There Will Be Blood could have topped the list if it wasn’t for Dano’s performance in the 2007 film.
“There Will Be Blood would stand a good chance at being No 1 or 2 if it didn’t have a big, giant flaw in it … and the flaw is Paul Dano,” he told the Bret Easton Ellis podcast, comparing the actor’s performance as twins Paul and Eli Sunday with that of Daniel Day-Lewis as oilman Daniel Plainview.
He added: “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’s a weak sister.”
When Ellis pointed out that Dano was only 23 years-old, early in his career and squaring up against an actor widely agreed to be among the best in cinema, Tarantino replied: “So you put him with the weakest male actor in SAG?”
RecommendedHe added: “I’m not saying [Dano]’s giving a terrible performance. I’m saying he’s giving a non-entity performance,”
When Ellis asked if Tarantino had ever enjoyed Dano in any project, he replied: “I don’t care for him. I don’t care for him, I don’t care for Owen Wilson, and I don’t care for Matthew Lillard.”
Tarantino went on to say that Austin Butler, would have been ideal for Dano’s part. He added: “Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. [Dano] is just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy.”
Among Tarantino’s other top films were Edgar Wright‘s Shaun Of The Dead, Zodiac by David Fincher, Sofia Coppola’s Lost In Translation and Toy Story 3.
AdvertisementIn the past, Tarantino has expressed his love for the Toy Story franchise saying he’s a “big fan” of the animated movies although he previously said he has “no desire” to watch Toy Story 4.
Elsewhere, he recently revealed that he has a plan for a prequel to the Kill Bill movies.
It comes ahead of a new edit of the entire saga Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, which is being released this Friday (December 5).
Tarantino and Uma Thurman also recently worked with Fortnite to make Yuki’s Revenge, a short film animated with the Unreal game engine that tells a lost chapter from the original film.
