Paul Dano

Interview By: Michael Dance
MichaelDance@TheCinemaSource.com

Paul Dano is one of the hot young stars of tomorrow, but don't expect him to find him in the tabloids. Instead, Dano is just one of the breed of young male stars who have broken out recently by doing nothing special except acting really well - think Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Lookout), Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild) and, that drunk incident at Walgreens notwithstanding, Shia LaBeouf (Transformers).

His first major role set the tone for the path his career would take: in 2001's L.I.E., he played a 15-year-old who develops a pedophilic relationship with a 55-year-old Brian Cox. More dark and quirky roles followed: in Taking Lives, he played a vicious young serial killer, and he also had a two-episode stint on The Sopranos. Last year, he scored a big hit and grabbed national attention with his role in the Best Picture nominee Little Miss Sunshine.

Compared to those other roles, the troubled near-mute son he played in Sunshine looked downright happy. But let's give credit where credit is due: he was surprisingly funny as one of the best friends in The Girl Next Door.

This time it's back to the world of dark and depressing movies with There Will Be Blood, a movie which wholeheartedly delivers the promise of its title. Dano plays Eli Sunday (and, in one scene, his twin brother Paul Sunday), a young evangelical preacher for a tiny congregation in Little Boston, CA circa the early 1900s. There he becomes the chief nemesis of Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), an oil tycoon from Texas looking to harness the 'ocean of oil' under the town. Plainview may be the protagonist of the story, but both men are in many ways despicable.

'I looked up some stuff about evangelical preachers, but I sort of had another approach with Eli,' Dano says. 'He didn't have radio or television, and I don't think he had the opportunity to see a tremendous amount of preachers except maybe when someone traveled through his town or a town close by. He didn't have a lot of books either. So I think he sort of made himself up, once he found what his gifts and his savviness and his charisma could bring him, and I think that slowly took over in him, and through the words of the Bible ' and loving to hear himself talk ' he found some way to be spiritually seductive, via himself.'

There Will Be Blood also marked Dano's second film with Day-Lewis; the two previously appeared in 2005's The Ballad of Jack and Rose. His respect for the older actor remains high.

'You know, I think whenever you're doing a period piece that's important, especially to me, since I shared a lot of scenes with Daniel, I've seen how well he immerses himself in the character and the period. That was something I really wanted to pay attention to.'

Critics and journalists have honed in on Plainview and Sunday's feud, saying that with its business vs. religion overtones, it's trying to make a larger comment on social issues. Dano, however, insists that the film is simply a story.

'I think, for me, I'd leave any of that for [director Paul Thomas Anderson] to bring out if that's what he wanted, but I certainly didn't look at it as anything more than a story. I think it would've been dangerous for me to try to bring out some sort of political theory, or something other than just, you know, being truthful to the characters.'

When the film was still in preproduction, Dano was actually only set to play the brother, Paul Sunday, with Kel O'Neill as Eli. O'Neill dropped out after shooting began, and suddenly Dano went from having a one-scene role to being the second lead and suddenly playing twins.

'Double the pain,' Dano jokes about the experience. 'No, I didn't have a lot of time to think about things like that, and certainly relish the idea of getting a bigger part in this film, because of trying to throw myself into the character and that was the priority. I have to say, in retrospect, yeah, it was wonderful to get to spend more time in Texas with these guys here. I feel very lucky, and hopefully, you know, I was able to contribute to it in so short amount of time. That was my main concern, trying to make a contribution with not a lot of time to prepare, and stuff like that.'

The entire experience has proved very successful ' the film is a critical hit, and Dano's name is being bandied about for an Oscar nomination for Supporting Actor. He'll also appear in Where the Wild Things Are, Spike Jonze's adaptation of the classic children's book, which is set to come out sometime next year. It doesn't sound quite as dark as what we're used to from Dano, but after his performance in Blood, he can do what he pleases.