Name of actor: Paul Dano
Name of film: There will be Blood
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Year: 2007
Poster
Paul Dano's manic sermon
Why this actor:
The 21st century’s epic is a work of art from Anderson and features one of the most iconic performances in modern cinema from Daniel Day Lewis - but there is also an incredible role from Paul Dano and it is to his credit, that he lets Day Lewis shine, through his own acting. But this is no underestimation - Dano’s fierce and weird performance has never got the full credit it deserves. Although quiet in comparison, Dano finds his own expression for Eli Sunday’s slippery character as a local preacher. Plainview (Day Lewis) wants to aquire a village and its land to mine for oil he knows is there - no matter what the cost. Anderson pits the two men of different beliefs, against each other. Their clash is a main thrust of this great film - it is a game of high stakes - the scene where a possessed Dano casts the devil out of a supposedly possessed Day Lewis in his church, is one of cinema's greatest scenes and probably why this reviewer chose this actor. Initially Anderson wanted someone different to play the Eli Sunday - The screenplay imagines him to be a deceitful and intimidating contemporary of Plainview.
But Dano plays to his strengths, adding a believable air of reason to his own dubious motives. His surface calmness and sudden explosiveness sets off Plainview’s chaotic spontaneity. So will the relentless Day Lewis outdo Dano’s more measured Eli?
This compelling performance might have been the sole focus of reviewers, if not for one of the greatest performances by any male lead in a film. It won Daniel Day Lewis an Oscar and There Will Be Blood won best film in 2008
Dano's tendency towards independent cinema has taken a break with the much-awaited new Batman, released to great reception. His menacing performance as the Riddler is apparently unlike anything you have seen him in.
Dano began his career on Broadway before making his film debut in The Newcomers (2000). He won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance for his role in L.I.E. (2001) and received high praise for his role as Dwayne Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). For There Will Be Blood, he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He is also the vocalist and lead guitarist of the band Mook. Filmmaker Bong Joon-ho said he wrote a part specifically for Dano in 2017's Okja after seeing one of his shows in Brooklyn. Director Matt Reeves also wrote the role of the Riddler for The Batman with Dano in mind to play it
Dano's star is still rising, and this may have been the film where viewers began to take notice.
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