Paul Dano

Paul Dano

Born Paul Franklin Dano
(1984-06-19) June 19, 1984
New York City, New York, United States
Occupation Actor, producer, singer, musician
Years active 1999–present
Partner(s) Zoe Kazan (2007–present)

Paul Franklin Dano (/ˈdn/) (born June 19, 1984)[1] is an American actor, producer, singer, and musician.

Dano started 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. (2002) and received accolades for his role as Dwayne Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). For his dual roles as Paul & Eli Sunday in There Will Be Blood (2007), he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Dano has also received accolades for roles such as John Tibeats in 12 Years a Slave (2013) and Alex Jones in Prisoners (2013). His acting portrayal of musician Brian Wilson in Love & Mercy (2014), earned him a Golden Globe nomination in the category of Best Supporting Actor.

Early life

Dano was born in New York City, New York, the son of Gladys (née Pipp) and Paul A. Dano. He has a younger sister named Sarah.[2][3][4] Dano spent the first few years of his childhood in New York City and initially attended the Browning School, while his father worked as a businessman in New York.[5][6]

While he was a child, Dano's family moved to New Canaan, Connecticut, finally settling in Wilton, Connecticut.[5] Dano continued his education there at Wilton High School, graduating in 2002 and attending Eugene Lang College in New York City.[5] He was involved in community theater, and while performing in New Canaan, his parents were encouraged to take him to New York.[5]

Career

Acting

Dano in December 2007

At age 10, Dano was noted for roles in classical plays on Broadway, making his debut at age 12 in the John Tillinger-directed revival of Inherit the Wind along with George C. Scott and Charles Durning.[7] He appeared in an episode of the sitcom Smart Guy and a minor role in the 2000 family drama The Newcomers, as well playing the part of Patrick Whalen, in a few episodes of The Sopranos in season 4.

Dano acted in his first major film role when he was 16, playing the character of Howie Blitzer, a teenage boy who becomes involved with a middle-aged ephebophile, played by Brian Cox, in L.I.E. (2001).[8] He then appeared in the TV movie Too Young to Be a Dad as a high school student whose life is disrupted when his girlfriend becomes pregnant. In 2004 he played a small role as young Martin Asher in Taking Lives with Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke. In 2005, he played supporting roles in The King with Gael Garcia Bernal, and The Ballad of Jack and Rose with Daniel Day-Lewis.

He came to greater attention in 2006, when he played as Dwayne, a voluntarily mute teenager as part of an ensemble in the comedic drama Little Miss Sunshine, which received critical acclaim and collective awards for its cast. Dano's work with Daniel Day-Lewis led to a dual role opposite him in his next film, Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, playing identical twin brothers Eli and Paul Sunday. This earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and brought him positive reviews, with Texas Monthly saying that his performance was "so electric that the movie sags whenever he's not around."[9] and Peter Travers remarking "All praise to the baby-faced Dano...for bringing sly cunning and unexpected ferocity to Plainview's most formidable opponent."[10] Rolling Stone magazine included Dano in its Hot List for 2007, calling his performance style "Daniel Day-Lewis + Billy Crudup × Johnny Depp."[11]

Dano appeared in several additional Broadway productions including A Thousand Clowns at the Roundabout Theatre, and in the Ethan Hawke directorial debut Things We Want during its 2007 Off-Broadway run.

In 2008, he starred in Gigantic, a poorly-reviewed film about a man seeking to adopt a Chinese baby, co-starring Zooey Deschanel. He reunited with Brian Cox in 2009's Good Heart, a low-budget English-language Icelandic film. He provided the voice of one of the creatures in the film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are. He played a genius inventor in 2010's Knight and Day, an action thriller starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. The same year he appeared in Meek's Cutoff, a well-reviewed historical drama. In 2011, he had a supporting role in the big-budget science fiction film Cowboys and Aliens.

Dano appeared in three feature films in 2012: Ruby Sparks, as a writer whose fictional character (played by Zoe Kazan, the film's writer and Dano's girlfriend) inexplicably appears as a real person; time-travel thriller Looper, in a supporting role with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis; and with Robert De Niro in Being Flynn as the film's writer Nick Flynn, about his relationship with his father. In 2014, Dano played a younger version of the Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson, with John Cusack as an older version of Wilson, in the biopic Love & Mercy, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

In 2015 Dano appeared with Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel in the Italian comedy-drama Youth; Dano portrayed Jimmy Tree, an actor who is researching for an upcoming role but is frustrated that he is best-remembered by the public for a prior role as a robot. In January 2016, Dano appeared as Pierre Bezukhov in the BBC's six-part adaptation of Tolstoy's War and Peace.[12]

In the Autumn of 2016, he appeared in video as an onstage "stand-in" during the Nostalgia For the Present concert tour of Australian singer Sia Furler for her song, "Bird Set Free."[13]

Directing

In July 2016, it was announced that Dano would make his directorial debut with the movie Wildlife, based on the 1990 novel of the same name, by Richard Ford.[14] The movie would be produced by June Pictures, and would star Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan. Dano stated, “I have always wanted to make films and have always known I would make films about family. I couldn’t be happier to have such beautiful collaborators like Carey and Jake leading the way.”[15]

Music

Dano is the vocalist and lead guitarist of the band Mook.[16]

Personal life

Dano has been dating actress and screenwriter Zoe Kazan since 2007.[17][18]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Director Notes
2000 The Newcomers Joel James Allen Bradley
2001 L.I.E. Howie Blitzer Michael Cuesta Directors' Week Award for Best Actor
Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance
Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film
Stockholm International Film Festival Award for Best Actor
2002 The Emperor's Club Martin Blythe Michael Hoffman
2004 The Girl Next Door Klitz Luke Greenfield
2004 Taking Lives Young Asher D. J. Caruso
2005 The Ballad of Jack and Rose Thaddius Rebecca Miller
2005 The King Paul James Marsh
2006 Little Miss Sunshine Dwayne Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Cast Ensemble (shared with Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Alan Arkin and Abigail Breslin)
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated — Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer
Nominated — Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast
Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
2006 Fast Food Nation Brian Richard Linklater
2007 Weapons Chris Adam Bhala Lough
2007 There Will Be Blood Paul Sunday / Eli Sunday Paul Thomas Anderson Nominated — Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Golden Schmoes Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — International Online Cinema Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Village Voice Film Poll Award for Best Supporting Actor
2008 Explicit Ills Rocco Mark Webber
2008 Light and the Sufferer Don ("Light") Christopher Peditto
2008 Gigantic Brian Weathersby Matt Aselton
2009 Taking Woodstock VW Guy Ang Lee
2009 The Good Heart Lucas Dagur Kári
2009 Where the Wild Things Are Alexander Spike Jonze Voice
2010 The Extra Man Louis Ives Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini
2010 Meek's Cutoff Thomas Gately Kelly Reichardt
2010 Knight and Day Simon Feck James Mangold
2011 Cowboys & Aliens Percy Dolarhyde Jon Favreau
2012 Being Flynn Nick Flynn Paul Weitz
2012 Ruby Sparks Calvin Weir-Fields Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
2012 Looper Seth Rian Johnson
2012 For Ellen Joby So Yong Kim
2013 12 Years a Slave John Tibeats Steve McQueen Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble
Boston Online Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble (Runner-Up)
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Nominated — Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Ensemble Cast
Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting Ensemble
Nominated — Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Cast
Nominated — Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Nominated — San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2013 Prisoners Alex Jones Denis Villeneuve National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
Nominated — San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble
Nominated — Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2014 Love & Mercy Brian Wilson Bill Pohlad Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Gotham Award for Best Actor
Kermode Award for Best Actor
New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Actor
San Francisco Film Critics Circle for Best Actor
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
Nominated — London Film Critics' Circle Award for Actor of the Year
Nominated — North Carolina Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Nominated — Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Nominated — St. Louis Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — San Francisco Film Critics Circle for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
2015 Youth Jimmy Tree Paolo Sorrentino
2016 Swiss Army Man Hank Daniels (Daniel Scheinert & Daniel Kwan)
2017 Okja Bong Joon-ho Filming

As director

Year Title Notes
TBA Wildlife Directorial debut[19]

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1998 Smart Guy Nicholas Episode: "She Got Game"
2002 Too Young to Be a Dad Matt Freeman Television film
2002–2004 The Sopranos Patrick Whalen 2 episodes
2015 Codes of Conduct Jared Rotmensen Pilot
2016 War & Peace Pierre Bezukhov 6 episodes

Stage

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Inherit the Wind Howard Royale Theatre
1997–98 A Christmas Carol Street Urchin The Theater at Madison Square Garden
2007 Things We Want Charles Acorn Theatre[20]
2010–11 A Free Man of Color Meriwether Lewis Vivian Beaumont Theater

References

  1. "Paul Dano - Biography". The New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  2. Grandjean, Pat, "First People" column, item titled "The Buzz", Connecticut Magazine, November 2006, p. 17.
  3. "Spotlight again on Wilton's Paul Dano - Thehour.com: Norwalk". Thehour.com. 2008-03-05. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  4. "'Ruby Sparks' Paul Dano chills out in Pennsylvania - tribunedigital-mcall". Articles.mcall.com. 2012-07-26. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  5. 1 2 3 4 MacEachern, Frank. "Spotlight again on Wilton's Paul Dano". Wilton Villager.
  6. "Fair Game – Paul Dano". Public Radio International.
  7. Ryzik, Melena (April 2, 2009). "Chasing Stardom, in No Particular Rush". New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  8. Blunt, Emily. "Stephen Ryder Tells A Lie". Blunt Review.
  9. Kelly, Christopher. "Crude Truth". Texas Monthly. 35 (12):68–70. December 2007.
  10. Travers, Peter. "There Will Be Blood." Rolling Stone. (1044):70. 2008-01-24
  11. Savage, Lesley (2007-10-18), "THE NEXT GENERATION". Rolling Stone. (1037):76
  12. "BBC - BBC One announces cast for epic new event drama War and Peace - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  13. Stevenson, Jane. "Crowd eats up pop star Sia's minimalistic show". Torontosun.com. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  14. McNary, Dave (29 July 2016). "Paul Dano to Make Directorial Debut With Indie Drama 'Wildlife'". Variety. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  15. Pedersen, Erik (23 September 2016). "Jake Gyllenhaal & Carey Mulligan Star In 'Wildlife', Paul Dano's Directing Debut". Deadline. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  16. Lee, Jinnie (2007-11-27). "Meet Mook". Nylon Magazine.
  17. "Actual Couples Explore a Fantasy, the Aesthetic Sort". The New York Times. July 20, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  18. "Love and Mercy's Paul Dano relates to Brian Wilson's tortured genius". The Sydney Morning Herald. June 4, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  19. Pedersen, Erik. "Jake Gyllenhaal & Carey Mulligan Star In 'Wildlife', Paul Dano's Directing Debut". deadline. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  20. "A Boys' Guide to Narcotizing the Pain". The New York Times. November 8, 2007. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
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