Paul Dano’s 10 Must-See Performances

1. There Will Be Blood (2007)

• Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
• Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson (based on the novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair)
• Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds, Dillon Freasier

This is the movie that proved Dano could stand toe-to-toe with Daniel Day-Lewis and not just survive, but thrive. He plays twin roles of Paul and Eli Sunday, which apparently was not the plan at the start. But Dano excelled, and the rest is history. Dano is the slimy, fanatical foil to Day-Lewis’s oil man. What’s wild about this performance is how physically small Dano allows himself to be; he’s shrill, weasely, and pathetic, yet his religious fervor makes him a genuine threat. It’s a masterclass in playing the antagonist without ever picking up a weapon.

2. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

• Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
• Writer: Michael Arndt
• Cast: Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, Alan Arkin

Dano broke out as Dwayne, the Nietzsche-reading, silence-vowing teenager who just wants to fly jets in this amazing movie. For 90% of this movie, Dano doesn't speak a single word. He has to convey all that teenage angst strictly through eye rolls and scribbled notes. When he finally does break his silence in that roadside meltdown scene, it’s genuinely gut-wrenching. It’s one of those rare performances that captures the precise feeling of being 15 and feeling like the world is collapsing because of something you can't control.

3. Prisoners (2013)

• Director: Denis Villeneuve
• Writer: Aaron Guzikowski
• Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo

Dano shows his range here, playing a suspected kidnapper with the IQ of a child. It’s a role that could have easily veered into caricature, but Dano plays it with this terrifying ambiguity because we realize he's locked in the maze of his mind when he was taken as a boy. You spend the whole movie swinging back and forth—is he a victim, or is he a monster? And you're gutted when you learn about his past.

4. Love & Mercy (2014)

• Director: Bill Pohlad
• Writers: Oren Moverman, Michael A. Lerner
• Cast: John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti

Love & Mercy splits the life of Beach Boys genius Brian Wilson into two parts, with Dano playing the young, creative peak version. This might actually be his best "pure" acting work. He captures Wilson’s descent from musical prodigy into mental illness with such tenderness. His obsession with music is beautiful and also terrifying.

5. The Batman (2022)

• Director: Matt Reeves
• Writers: Matt Reeves, Peter Craig
• Cast: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell

Dano’s Riddler is so unique. He is usually portrayed as goofy, and Dano turned him into a Zodiac-killer-style nightmare who had been radicalized online and is just following a much bigger plan. It’s an unhinged performance that fits perfectly into Matt Reeves’ rainy, grunge-noir Gotham.

6. Swiss Army Man (2016)

• Directors: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (The Daniels)
• Writers: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
• Cast: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

This was the noisiest movie that year, and I loved hearing people's reactions to it. The whole idea is that Paul Dano drags Daniel Radcliffe’s farting corpse through a forest to survive. But Dano is the beating heart that grounds this absurdity into something deeply moving. This is a movie about wanting to keep living and survive when you face real death.

7. The Fabelmans (2022)

• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Writers: Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner
• Cast: Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Gabriel LaBelle

Playing a version of Steven Spielberg’s own father is a tall order, but Dano brings a quiet dignity to the role of Burt Fabelman. In a movie dominated by Michelle Williams’ loud, artistic temperament, Dano plays the steady, scientific rock of the family. It’s a subdued performance that slowly reveals all the things going on behind the scenes that have contributed to his angst and life.

8. Ruby Sparks (2012)

• Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
• Writer: Zoe Kazan
• Cast: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas

This film deconstructs the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" trope and is really smart and sensitive. Dano is perfect as the neurotic writer Calvin, who starts off as a sympathetic, lonely guy who accidentally writes his perfect woman into existence, but Dano is smart enough to show the dark side of that fantasy. And he's the only guy I think can realistically play both versions of this character.

9. 12 Years a Slave (2013)

• Director: Steve McQueen
• Writer: John Ridley (based on the memoir by Solomon Northup)
• Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Lupita Nyong'o

This is a small role, but it’s impactful because of how detestable Dano allows himself to be. He plays Tibeats, a cruel, insecure overseer who takes out his own inadequacy on the slaves. This is him playing weak evil again and nailing it.

10. Wildlife (2018)

• Director: Paul Dano
• Writers: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan (based on the novel by Richard Ford)
• Cast: Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ed Oxenbould, Bill Camp

Okay, this is the only entry on the list where Dano doesn't appear on screen, but it’s essential viewing if you want to understand him as an artist. His directorial debut is a quiet, devastatingly beautiful look at a marriage disintegrating in 1960s Montana. You can tell Dano has spent his career paying attention to masters like Paul Thomas Anderson; the framing is precise, and the pacing is patient.

Summing It All Up

Paul Dano is a versatile actor and director who has been in a ton of different movies and continues to make interesting choices.

I'd love to see him direct more and to see where his career goes from here.

Did I leave off any of your favorites?