Daniel Day-Lewis has expressed his support for former co-star Paul Dano, amid controversial comments made about the actor by Quentin Tarantino.
The Pulp Fiction director discussed the Oscar nominee on the Bret Easton Ellis podcast, while including the 2007 drama There Will Be Blood as part of his favourite films of this century. Dano appeared in the film as a corrupt preacher who becomes a bitter rival of Day-Lewis’ lead, a ruthless oil prospector.
“There Will Be Blood would stand a good chance at being Number One or Number Two [on his list of favourites] if it didn’t have a big, giant flaw in it … and the flaw is Paul Dano,” Tarantino said of the film, going on to call the actor “weak sauce” and “the weakest actor in SAG” (the Screen Actors Guild).
The comments drew a wave of support for Dano from Hollywood names such as Ben Stiller, Simu Liu, and The Batman director Matt Reeves. Now, Day-Lewis has made his feelings known.
Oh my god Daniel Day Lewis coming out of his Instagram stasis where all he occasionally posts is throwbacks to his own roles and pro-Palestine content (goat) to say this about Paul Dano I’m so sorry Tarantino but it’s never been so over for you pic.twitter.com/dzGlvMaePA
— Scout ! (@ScoutCoker1) December 8, 2025
On Monday (December 8), an Instagram story from an account purporting to be the actor shared an image of the pair with the caption “Paul Dano is one of the best and most talented actors of his generation.” The account was later removed, although it has circulated online from posters assuming it was legitimate
Representatives of the actor told The Guardian that the account was in fact run by a fan and not the Oscar-winner. However, the statement added that Day-Lewis “endorsed the sentiments” of the message.
The fallout from Tarantino’s interview has continued in the days since it was released, with The Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson responding to the filmmaker’s claims that the story “ripped off” 2000 Japanese film Battle Royale.
Another target for the director was actor Matthew Lillard, who he said he “didn’t care for.” During an appearance at GalaxyCon in Ohio, he reacted to the slight saying: “The point is, it hurts your feelings. It fucking sucks. And you wouldn’t say that to Tom Cruise. You wouldn’t say that to somebody who’s a top-line actor in Hollywood.”
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