Actor Paul Dano responds to Quentin Tarantino’s criticism of him

Paul Dano exits the red carpet for "The Wizard of the Kremlin" at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Laura Proctor

Actor Paul Dano has broken his silence about Quentin Tarantino’s harsh criticism of him.

The “Pulp Fiction” director launched a scathing attack on Dano during an interview with “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast” in an episode released last month.

During the conversation, Tarantino said his fifth favorite film of the 21st century was “There Will Be Blood” – but he added a caveat.

He said the 2007 movie, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, would have been his first or second favorite were it not for “a big giant flaw in it, and the flaw is Paul Dano.” Adding insult to injury, he went on to describe Dano as “such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy.”

Dano, who played two roles in the movie as identical twins Eli and Paul Sunday, didn’t publicly address the director’s comments, although some of Hollywood’s biggest stars jumped to his defence.

Now, a reporter from Variety has asked Dano at a 20th anniversary screening of “Little Miss Sunshine” at the Sundance Film Festival about Tarantino’s outburst.

Although Dano did not speak directly to Tarantino’s comments, he said of the support he’d received: “That was really nice. I was also incredibly grateful that the world spoke up for me so I didn’t have to.”

Dano has received support from some of Hollywood’s biggest names.

Toni Collette, who starred alongside Dano in the Oscar-winning movie “Little Miss Sunshine,” said in the article published Wednesday: “Are we really going there? F**k that guy (Tarantino).” She added: “Who does that?”

Meanwhile, actor and director Ben Stiller posted on X last month: “Paul Dano is f-ing brilliant.” And Reese Witherspoon said on Threads: “Paul Dano is an incredibly gifted, versatile actor. More importantly, he is a gentleman.”

During his speech for best actor at the AARP awards earlier this month, George Clooney said: “I don’t enjoy watching people be cruel to actors,” adding that he would be “honoured” to work with Dano.

The “Little Miss Sunshine” directors also sprang to Dano’s defence this week.

Jonathan Dayton told Variety that Tarantino’s comments were an “embarrassment,” adding: “I can only think that his (Dano’s) rawness of his performance made Tarantino uncomfortable.”

Valerie Faris added: “You know what was interesting was the people coming out to defend Paul … he is loved by so many. He is so smart.”

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN

CNN’s Lisa Respers France contributed to this report.