Quentin Tarantino revealed her unlikely beef with the actor Pau Dano in a December 2025 interview.
The filmmaker raised eyebrows during an appearance “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast” while discussing his top 20 films of the 21st century. During his talk, Dano’s performance in the 2007 film There will be blood was mentioned
Tarantino called There will be blood as his fifth favorite movie since 2000, with one caveat. The famed director explained that he would have rated the film much higher without Dano’s dual performances as brothers Paul and Eli Sunday. The filmmaker argued that both of Dano’s performances pale in comparison Daniel Day-Lewis‘ Oscar-winning portrayal of oil connoisseur Daniel Plainview.
“Obviously, it’s supposed to be two-handed, and it’s also so drastically obvious that it’s not a two-handed one,” Tarantino argued. “(Dano) is weak sauce, man. She’s a weak sister.”
Keep scrolling to learn more about Tarantino’s criticism of Dano and what exactly “weak sauce” means.
What did Quentin Tarantino say about Paul Dano?
Quentin Tarantino had an extended discussion with the host of “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast.” Bret Easton Ellis – author of American Psycho – About the director Paul Thomas Anderson2007 movie There will be blood.
The Old West drama revolves around oil prospector Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) clashing with a local preacher, Eli Sunday (Dano), over drilling in the town of Little Boston, after Plainview is tipped off about an oil field by Eli’s twin brother Paul (also Dano).
Tarantino called There will be blood as his fifth favorite film since 2000, but argued that one “big, giant flaw” prevented it from ranking any higher: Dano’s dual performances as Eli and Paul Sunday. His biggest complaint was that Dano’s “weak sauce” portrayal of Eli Sunday was ineffective as a nemesis for Day-Lewis’ portrayal of Daniel Plainview. (Day-Lewis won best actor awards at the Oscars and BAFTAs for his work in There will be blood in 2008.)
The filmmaker complained that Pano delivered an “uninteresting” performance overall There will be bloodbefore suggesting that “Austin Butler he would have been wonderful in that role.” (Butler was only 16 at the time There will be bloodof the premiere and was, at the time, a cast member of Nickelodeon’s Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide. Dano was 23 when he filmed the 2007 film.)
“(Dano is) such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy … Daniel Day-Lewis shows that he doesn’t need (a powerful on-screen enemy). He doesn’t need anything,” argued Tarantino. “The movie would have had more, there would have been more stiffness in the beef. And again, it’s supposed to be two-handed, and it’s not.”
Ellis replied that it would have been difficult for any actor to stand face-to-face with Day-Lewis a There will be blood, given the Oscar winner’s powerful performance.
“So you cast him with the weakest male actor in SAG? The lamest shit in the world?” Tarantino fired.
Despite the counterarguments of Ellis in the defense of Dano, the Once upon a time in Hollywood the director stood his ground.
“I’m not saying he’s giving a terrible performance,” Tarantino clarified. “I’m saying he’s giving a non-entity (performance). I don’t care about him. I don’t care Owen Wilson. i don’t care Matthew Lillard“.
Us Weekly Dano representatives have been contacted for comment.
Dano received critical acclaim for both of his performances in There will be blood at the time of the film’s release in 2007. He received a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the BAFTAs in 2008 and was nominated for the prestigious Village Voice Film Poll Awards that same year.
What is “weak sauce”?
According to the Oxford English Dictionarythe term “weak sauce” means someone or something that lacks “power, substance, or credibility.” It can also mean a “worthless, stupid or pathetic person or thing”.
Merriam-Webster offers a similar assessment of the term, describing “weak sauce” as someone or something “inferior, ineffective, or unimpressive.”
A more peculiar definition comes from the urban dictionarywhich suggests that “calling a ‘weak sauce’ compares that individual to the ‘mild’ sauce found at Taco Bell.”
“(Weak sauce is) weak, bland (or) tries to be like other hot sauces but falls short of expectations,” Urban Dictionary added.
How did fans react to Quentin Tarantino shading Paul Dano?
Many listeners of “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast” were puzzled by Tarantino’s pointed removal of Dano’s performance in There will be blood.
“Tarantino’s statement about Paul Dano is wrong on many levels”, a user X he shot “He stands strong against a legend like DDL (dare I say better Leo (DiCaprio) in The gangs of New York even) creates a rich character but also two different characters. It is one of the great performances. It really is.”
“It’s been so nice to see the outpouring of support for Paul Dano after this Tarantino shot with no deaths,” said another. X user he held “Hugely disrespectful and just plain wrong!”
Another defender of Dano even suggested that the Batman The actor “has a better filmography than Tarantino.”
“Tarantino is one of my favorite directors ❤️ but when he expresses these nasty and exaggerated opinions it’s unbearable,” said one Tarantino fan. admitted. “Paul Dano was fantastic in that role, by the way.”
However, not everyone disagreed with Tarantino’s criticism There will be blood.
“I agree with Tarantino, with Paul Dano TWBB never sat well with me,” an X user explained. “Especially Daniel Day Lewis, he was meant to be the counter force to his character and he was weak and childish.”
Others felt bad that Tarantino name-checked Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard, seemingly out of nowhere, as some of his least favorite actors.
“I didn’t realize Tarantino also said he thought Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard were crap actors,” one fan. he joked.
Another user X he pointed out“Lmao people are forgetting that not only did he badmouth Paul Dano, he also talked shit about Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard. Tarantino is a baseless jerk.”