By Alyssa Boddicker
You’ll recognise Paul Dano’s face before his name. His wide eyes and circular face make for a look of innocence that brings the seasoned 31-year-old actor to look nothing past 25. Maybe that is why Hollywood hasn’t noticed the constant power in his performances, or maybe although his characters onscreen burst with life but as far as we’ve seen through interviews, that energy curls into a more reserved and almost geeky man who Hollywood doesn’t view as a leading man. Either way, we believe that it is finally time for Paul Dano to step out of the character actor graveyard and emerge as one of Hollywood’s finest talents.
Paul Dano’s breakout, some believe, was much earlier in his career in the 2006 Sundance favorite Little Miss Sunshine with his role as Dwayne, the angsty teen taking a vow of silence. Dano even won the Critics’ Choice award for best young performer and many thought he was destined for at least indie film stardom. Next up was the film There Will Be Blood where Dano’s role as a healing preacher shone a light on his energy and gusto as an actor. Funnily enough, more fame did not come with this role but Dano did add to his quirky fan base. Based on his iconic line “I drink your milkshake”, whenever he’s out for meals fans send him milkshakes. Ironically, Dano revealed in an interview that he is in fact is lactose-intolerant, sorry, There Will Be Blood fans!
The actor who likes to live by the “headphones in, world out” method when prepping for roles or really just living life seems to be the type of person whose worst fear is upsetting other people. This is quite different from his character John Tibeats in 12 Years a Slave, where his cringe-worthy convincing performance as an overseer of slaves added another layer to his diverse character personalities. His island of misfit roles continued to accumulate with performances as a quirky romantic lead in Ruby Sparks and a mentally disabled man accused of kidnapping a young girl in mystery thriller Prisoners.
In between basketball games (he wanted to be wanted to be a professional basketball player before he started his acting career), Paul Dano has found himself in playing as well as acting opposite some of the greats. In Love & Mercy, Dano stars as the younger Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys where his singing talents were tested both on screen and even in person by Brian Wilson. Next up was Youth, where as a change of pace Dano plays jaded film star Jimmy Tree trying to escape the public eye opposite Michael Caine and Rachel Weisz. His newest venture, a BBC 10-part historical drama series based on Tolstoy’s classic War & Peace, Dano plays Pierre Bezukhow a boy who needs to become a man as he inherits his fathers fortune as the Russian conflict with Napoleon hits its peak.
A character chameleon, Dano adapts to each character with ease so that we can view him as an aristocrat one second and a celebrated musician the next. After climbing in the film ranks for the past 15 years, his recent performances in War & Peace, Youth, and Love & Mercy in addition to his already impressive filmography, Paul Dano no longer deserves to be settled in the background.
See him next in Swiss Army Man opposite Daniel Radcliffe coming out 22 January 2016.
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