Quentin Tarantino’s Comments On “Weakest Male Actor” In Hollywood Spark Controversy

There is one actor who now knows he’ll never get a call from Quentin Tarantino.

The acclaimed filmmaker recently discussed his favorite films and made it very clear that he’ll never want a “weak” Hollywood actor in his projects.

Tarantino is a fan of the 2007 film There Will Be Blood and has ranked it as his fifth favorite movie of the 21st century.

Quentin Tarantino harshly criticized a Hollywood actor as “weak” and “uninteresting”

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Speaking on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast this week, Tarantino revealed he would have ranked the film higher if it weren’t for a “big giant flaw.”

The movie, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, follows a silver miner-turned-oilman who embarks on a quest for wealth during the Californian oil boom.

It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O’Connor, Ciarán Hinds, and Dillon Freasier, and won two Academy Awards out of eight nominations.

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Image credits: The Howard Stern Show

Tarantino praised Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance, which earned him a Best Actor Oscar.

However, according to the filmmaker, the performance by Day-Lewis’ co-star failed to live up to the project.

The filmmaker said There Will Be Blood could have been his favorite movie of the 21st century if it weren’t for a “giant flaw”

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“There Will Be Blood would stand a better chance to be in number one or number two if it didn’t have a big giant flaw in it, and the flaw is Paul Dano,” he said.

“Obviously, it’s supposed to be a two-hander, and it’s also so drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander.”

The director did not mince words when discussing the performance by The Batman star, calling him “weak sauce” who thinks he’s “another terrific actor.”

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He also revealed who he would have liked to see in the film instead of Dano. “Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. [Dano]’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy,” Tarantino added.

The 62-year-old harshly described Dano as “the weakest male actor in SAG (the Screen Actors Guild)” and the “limpest d**k” in the world.

“I’m not saying he’s giving a terrible performance. I’m saying he’s giving a non-entity performance,” he clarified.

The 2007 film, starring Daniel Day-Lewis in the leading role, won two Oscars

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During the interview, the filmmaker was asked whether he had ever enjoyed any of Dano’s films. While at it, he also revealed other actors he doesn’t want to work with.

“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,” he said.

Dano is known for 12 Years a Slave, Little Miss Sunshine, Love & Mercy, The Batman, and The Fabelmans, among other projects.

His career includes collaborations with directors such as Steven Spielberg, Bong Joon-ho, Steve McQueen, and Denis Villeneuve. His performance in There Will Be Blood earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

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In the film, Dano was originally only set to play Paul Sunday, but took over both the twin roles when the actor originally cast as Eli Sunday, Kel O’Neill, was fired because Paul Thomas Anderson decided he “wasn’t the right fit.”

Tarantino’s unfiltered comments were met with criticism online, with many disagreeing that Dano was a flaw in the acclaimed period drama.

“Tarantino obviously has an ax to grind. There were two superb performances in that movie, and Dano was one of them,” one movie fan wrote.

Tarantino slammed Paul Dano as the “weakest male actor in SAG”

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Image credits: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

“I’m a huge fan of Tarantino’s movies but this is too much. Did Paul Dano k*ll his dog or something? There are so many bad actors out there and to pick Dano (who’s actually a pretty darn good actor) is weird,” agreed another.

“That’s funny coming from Tarantino who does act sometimes and is clearly the best candidate for weakest actor in SAG,” read another comment.

One user called the Pulp Fiction director “full of himself” and described his comments as a “low-class” move.

Others agreed with Tarantino, writing, “I mean…he didn’t lie, though. It’s also his opinion.”

Commenter Brendan Wright critiques Quentin Tarantino's remarks on the weakest male actor in Hollywood with skepticism.

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This isn’t the first time Tarantino has given Dano’s performance in the movie a thumbs down.

“He’s just not in the level and the caliber and the caliber of Daniel Day-Lewis and if the two characters are meant to be combats throughout the film, then Daniel Day-Lewis is Muhammed Ali and Paul Dano is Jerry Corey. It is what it is,” he said, as per Screen Rant.

Dano played twins Paul and Eli Sunday in the movie, earning a BAFTA nomination for his performance

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In Tarantino’s list of top 20 movies of the 21st century, Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down takes first place and Lee Unkrich’s Toy Story 3 comes in second.

Lost in Translation, directed by his ex, Sofia Coppola, comes in third, followed by Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, There Will Be Blood, and David Fincher’s Zodiac. 

Image credits: Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers

Tarantino was also impressed by the early-2000s comedies School of Rock and Jackass: The Movie, ranking them above Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, which sits at the bottom of the list.

“Sounds like Tarantino has a personal vendetta against Dano,” one movie fan speculated

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