Quentin Tarantino expressed his underwhelming impression of Paul Dano's performance in Paul Thomas Anderson's masterpiece, There Will Be Blood, during a recent appearance on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast. The two-time Academy Award winner shared his list of the best movies of the 21st century, ranking the 2007 western-thriller at a respectable fifth place, but with a caveat. "It would stand a better chance to be in number one or number two if it didn't have a big giant flaw in it," he noted, and that flaw, he asserted, was Paul Dano.
"Obviously, it's supposed to be a two-hander, and it's so blatantly obvious that it's not," Tarantino said. "He is weak sauce, man. He's a weak sister." The director commended Daniel Day-Lewis' performance in the film, which garnered him an Oscar, and pointed out that "Daniel Day-Lewis shows that he doesn't need a strong foil in the movie. He doesn't need anything. The movie would've had more stringency to the beef."
Bret Easton Ellis argued that Day-Lewis' portrayal of Daniel Plainview was "so gargantuan" that it may have overshadowed Dano. Tarantino responded to this theory with a playful jab: "So you put him with the weakest male actor in SAG? The limpest dick in the world?"
The Hollywood Reporter reached out to representatives for Dano but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Tarantino further elaborated, "I'm not saying he's giving a terrible performance. I'm saying he's giving a non-entity performance. I don't care for him. I don't care for Owen Wilson, I don't care for Matthew Lillard."
There Will Be Blood earned two Academy Awards: one for Day-Lewis in the best actor category and another for cinematography. The film picked up a total of eight nominations, and The Hollywood Reporter predicted its awards success in a 2007 review, stating that "Built around another powerhouse performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, it's a certain awards contender and will be a strong draw for serious moviegoers."
