- - ‘The Batman’ Director Matt Reeves Stands Up for Paul Dano After Tarantino’s Diss: ‘An Incredible Actor’

J. Kim MurphyDecember 5, 2025 at 9:20 AM

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Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association | Dominik Magdziak/Getty Images | Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Filmmaker Matt Reeves added his voice to the wave of praise for Paul Dano — an outpouring that was prompted by Quentin Tarantino dissing Dano as “the weakest fucking actor in SAG.”

“Paul Dano is an incredible actor, and an incredible person,” Reeves wrote on social media Thursday afternoon. The director worked with Dano on “The Batman,” in which the actor took on the role of the villainous Riddler and faced off against Robert Pattinson’s Caped Crusader.

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Tarantino made his comments about Dano in an appearance on “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast,” in which the filmmaker named his 20 favorite movies of the 21st century. But Tarantino upstaged his own taste a bit when discussing his fifth-place selection, Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood,” arguing that the film would be his first or second pick “if it didn’t have a big, giant flaw in it… and the flaw is Paul Dano.”

“He is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister,” Tarantino continued. “He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy. Daniel Day-Lewis shows that he doesn’t need a strong foil. The movie needs it. He doesn’t need anything. It’s supposed to be a two-hander and it’s not! … You put him with the the weakest fucking actor in SAG? The limpest dick in the world?”

The harsh take prompted others in the industry to voice their appreciation for Dano, including Reeves’ “The Batman” sequel screenwriter Mattson Tomlin: “I am really pleased to see so many people cheer on Paul Dano this week. Not only is he a terrific actor, but he’s an astonishing director who exudes control and tremendous empathy. Check out ‘Wildlife’ if you haven’t seen it.”

Ben Stiller also showed his appreciation, writing on social media that “Paul Dano is f-ing brilliant.” Alec Baldwin shared a video statement saying, “I love Paul Dano. And if you don’t love Paul Dano, shhhhhh.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”