Paul Franklin Dano(born 19 June 1984, New York City, New York, USA) growing up in Manhattan and Connecticut, Dano began his career on the New York stage with supporting roles on Broadway including “Inherit The Wind” opposite George C. Scott and Charles Durning and “A Christmas Carol” with Terrence Mann and Ben Vereen. Most recently, he starred in the Ethan Hawke-directed production of The New Group’s “Things We Want” with Peter Dinklage, Josh Hamilton and Zoe Kazan.
Among his varied feature credits, Dano as the young evangelical preacher “Eli Sunday,” he played the nemesis to Daniel Day-Lewis’ oil speculator “Daniel Plainview.” Dano also played Eli’s twin brother, Paul, in the film. His performance earned him a BAFTA nomination for “Best Supporting Actor.” Paul also starred in this year’s Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated film “There Will Be Blood”, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
Dano also starred in last year’s Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated “Little Miss Sunshine” amongst an ensemble cast including Alan Arkin, Steve Carell, Abigail Breslin, Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear. His performance as a physical fitness/Nietzsche devotee who had taken a vow of silence earned him a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for “Best Young Actor” and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for “Best Supporting Actor.” The cast also received a SAG Award for “Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture” and a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for “Best Acting Ensemble.”
With his feature film debut in the coming-of-age drama “L.I.E.” (2001 Sundance Film Festival), Dano earned an Independent Spirit Award for “Best Debut Performance.” His portrayal of an innocent teenager forced to navigate his adolescence virtually unsupervised also garnered him a “Best Actor” Award at the Stockholm Film Festival and tied him for the Grand Jury Award for “Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film” at L.A.’s Outfest. Additional film credits include ‘Taking Lives”, “The King” with Gael Garcia Bernal, “The Ballad of Jack and Rose” with Daniel Day-Lewis and Richard Linklater’s “Fast Food Nation”.
In addition to “Gigantic”, Dano’s upcoming films include Spike Jonze’s “Where The Wild Things Are”, based on Maurice Sendak’s children’s classic; Adam Bhala Lough’s “Weapons”; and Dagur Kari’s “The Good Heart” with Brian Cox.
Filmography
The Extra Man (2010) (filming)
Where the Wild Things Are (2009) (post-production) (voice) …. Alexander
Taking Woodstock (2009) (post-production)
The Good Heart (2008) (post-production) …. Lucas
Gigantic (2008) …. Brian Weathersby
Explicit Ills (2008) …. Rocco
There Will Be Blood (2007) …. Paul Sunday / Eli Sunday
Weapons (2007) …. Chris
Fast Food Nation (2006) …. Brian
Little Miss Sunshine (2006) …. Dwayne
The King (2005) …. Paul
The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005) …. Thaddius
“The Sopranos” …. Patrick Whalen (2 episodes, 2002-2004)
Taking Lives (2004) …. Young Asher
The Girl Next Door (2004) …. Klitz
Light and the Sufferer (2004) …. Don (AKA: Light)
The Emperor’s Club (2002) …. Martin Blythe
Too Young to Be a Dad (2002) (TV) (as Paul Franklin Dano) …. Matt Freeman
L.I.E. (2001) (as Paul Franklin Dano) …. Howie Blitzer
The Newcomers (2000) …. Joel
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Tags: Biography, Filmography, Paul Dano, Pictures






