Paul Dano Quotes & Sayings

Sometimes I think your intellect can get in your way as an actor or an artist. When you come from a world of improv and comedy, you're able to let it flicker and fall out. — Paul Dano

I went to private school in Manhattan, and at a young age, they made us do public speaking. For some reason, I was good at standing in front of the class and speaking. — Paul Dano

Sometimes it's summer camp on location. So it's nice to have a little New York community of people you love. — Paul Dano

Some projects go as you hope or imagine, and some change or reveal themselves in a different way; it depends. — Paul Dano

On 'There Will Be Blood,' I was cast at the last minute. I had 3 and a half to 4 days to get ready for the first day. I just went for it, threw myself in there and gave it everything I had. That was just guts and instinct, not a lot of preparation. — Paul Dano

I would like to do something really big and then something really small, and see what it's like to work in that way, but in front of a live audience. — Paul Dano

I really don't want to go to work every day convincing myself of what I'm saying. I want the material to make me a better actor; then I try to return the favor to the material. — Paul Dano

There are maybe 100 actors I look up to, but my first two favourite actors were Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson. — Paul Dano

A lot of people think I must be weird because of the films I've done. I get that. — Paul Dano

With somebody like Harrison Ford, they're so commanding and confident, and you know, he does have a certain power or charisma, and those are things that are sort of ineffable. — Paul Dano

It just so happens that when I was, like, 19 or 20, I got a couple of auditions and got a couple parts with good people. Of the thousands of auditions where you don't get the part, I've done a couple of jobs where you do it and you're like, "Okay, this is good." — Paul Dano

The less acting you have to do, the better, I think. — Paul Dano

One thing you notice is, there's a lot of people with raw talent, and then there's people who take that talent and work hard. — Paul Dano

I don't have any tattoos. — Paul Dano

'Looper' was a wonderful script. Rian Johnson is the real deal and a really talented filmmaker. — Paul Dano

When I'm not acting, I like to go home and be really normal. So I usually grow out my hair until I get the next part. — Paul Dano

I always have an adjustment period where I'm so happy to be home, but then my sense of purpose is totally gone. — Paul Dano

I go down to the dive bar around the corner when I go out. I don't go to the showbiz parties. — Paul Dano

I grew up in Manhattan, and now I live in Brooklyn. — Paul Dano

I always ask for more takes. I like doing takes, so I'll do as many as I can. — Paul Dano

I'm not a big shopper. I'm a pretty simple dresser, and that's not my pleasure go-to thing, looking for clothes. — Paul Dano

I would not take a girl to a club on a Thursday. I would not take her to a really noisy, swanky restaurant. — Paul Dano

I know an actor who would play one type of part but could never get cast as tough. Once he got cast as tough, as a cop, he only got offered cop roles. It's a funny business in that regard. It's all about perception. — Paul Dano

I'm very low-maintenance. — Paul Dano

You try to get to know your character as best as you can before you start filming - what's written and not written. — Paul Dano

There's that thing that if you want to have any kind of lasting love, I think you have to love the whole person and not just the parts of them that you choose. — Paul Dano

I'd love to do a really broad comedy at some point. — Paul Dano

When I'm not excited, it makes acting very hard for me. — Paul Dano

The only constant I can find is hard work. — Paul Dano

I'd always been fascinated by people who allow themselves to be so rude and irritated and foul-mouthed and hostile, but usually you can sense there's something vulnerable beneath them - a shield they use to protect that vulnerable side. Finally, when they expose that soft spot, it's kind of touching. — Paul Dano

I approach every role from scratch. — Paul Dano

The world of the homeless is a tough and interesting world. — Paul Dano

When my girlfriend's away, I cook a big vat of meaty pasta and sauce and eat that for about a week. Then I eat out the rest of the time. When she's home, we eat at home probably twice a week. I chop, she cooks. — Paul Dano

I've been fortunate to work with several actors and directors who I look up to, and learned from each of them. — Paul Dano

To be called a genius at 17 or 18 years old can sometimes cause arrested development. — Paul Dano

Let's say honorary favorite New Yorker is John Lennon, and favorite real New Yorker is Biggie, because he's the best. — Paul Dano

This is so lame to say in a magazine, but I just grabbed some pink wallpaper. I find it to be a very relaxing color. — Paul Dano

I know I am always pumped, as an audience member, to go and see a Western. — Paul Dano

I love cereal. I eat several bowls a day, mostly a few late at night. — Paul Dano

I feel like I have to be responsible for what I'm participating in or putting out into the world. — Paul Dano

I mean, to feel in good hands as an actor ... it's the best feeling. — Paul Dano

I feel like, once you're doing a job, you shouldn't talk about it. — Paul Dano

One of my favorite films is 'Dumb and Dumber.' — Paul Dano

One of my favorite things I read was John Steinbeck's journals while he was writing 'East of Eden,' which was so cool. — Paul Dano

It's a lot of fun to be a part of films that you don't exactly know how they're going to turn out. — Paul Dano

I like the idea of finding parts that I know I can do but I don't totally understand them right away. — Paul Dano

I think carrying your gut, or your instincts, through all the learning, is one of the most important things. You learn to prepare for a part in different ways, you learn to experiment, what you do for the character - you try working in different ways. — Paul Dano

I'm really excited to share the movie [Swiss Army Man] with people, so I'm glad that people are seeing it. And I want them to, because I think it's a really fun movie to experience sitting next to people. It makes it funnier. It makes it more comfortable. It makes it sweeter. — Paul Dano

You look at the part in '12 Years A Slave,' you finish that script - I mean, it's a powerful story. You go, 'Man, I have to play a bad character in this.' And then you go, 'Well, do I want to play a bad character and contribute to a good story?' — Paul Dano

Listening to hard rock on the subway doesn't work for me, especially modern hard rock. Driving in L.A. helped me to understand the appeal of that music. — Paul Dano

Nobody is a perfect actor. — Paul Dano

Your director is your main support - actors don't generally give each other advice on set, not in my experience. — Paul Dano

When you repeat yourself so many times, even if you're speaking the truth, the repetition starts to feel false. Sometimes, you just feel like the words you're speaking, even if they once had meaning, have lost it. And that makes you feel kind of silly. — Paul Dano

People think memorizing lines is hard, when that's the last thing you worry about. You get that done, and then you've got to worry about the internal stuff, which is the challenging part. — Paul Dano

Sometimes we fall in love with the idea of a person and have trouble seeing the real thing. — Paul Dano

I think 'American Pie' is great. — Paul Dano

Even when I'm alone, my life revolves around film. I think that's why I live in New York, not L.A., where it's so concentrated. — Paul Dano

It's hard to talk about acting because I don't think it's quite as explicit as a lot of people might think. And that's probably the best thing about it. — Paul Dano

It's a funny thing. You sort of never figure it out with acting. You're always learning. — Paul Dano

I want to do some bigger films, so long as there's some sort of exciting creative element or a good filmmaker behind them. — Paul Dano

I think was overly empathetic for a while in my life. — Paul Dano

I think I was almost 12, so I knew who George C. Scott was, but if I could work with George C. Scott now, I'd be so pumped. — Paul Dano

Being actors is a strange job. — Paul Dano

The only exercise I get is playing sports because I hate the gym. I try to learn to love it. — Paul Dano

There's a lot of people that I would love to work with. There's a lot of different kinds of parts I wanna play. As your career progresses, you hope that you get some more opportunity or some more choice. — Paul Dano

I think it's more important to try and make a good film than give a good performance. — Paul Dano

I don't know that praise is always a good thing. — Paul Dano

I like listening to my playlist on the iPod. I don't want radio with commercials. — Paul Dano

My favorite color is blue, and my secret favorite color is pink. — Paul Dano

I don't like tight pants on guys. — Paul Dano

People have asked me about playing outsiders. I don't consider myself an outsider. Maybe that's why I'm interested in that. I'm not really sure. — Paul Dano

To be running away from explosions with Harrison Ford, you know, that's pretty great. — Paul Dano

New York is kind of a mythological city in may ways. — Paul Dano

When somebody mentions that I did a play with George C. Scott, I'm like, it can't have happened. What was I doing on a Broadway stage at 11 years old? It's so far in the distance now. — Paul Dano

I went to tranny bars and kind of got used to being around that and then getting dressed up. — Paul Dano

George C. Scott, man, was a powerful dude. — Paul Dano

I love Brooklyn; it's a part of who you are. — Paul Dano

I'm a private person, but I don't feel afraid to walk out of my door or anything. I get recognised occasionally, but not overwhelmingly so. — Paul Dano

The better the acting is, the harder it is to see what the process is. — Paul Dano

I think that the Western went away for a while because part of its function was that it used to be America's action film. — Paul Dano

In 'There Will Be Blood,' my character was someone who was an actor himself almost. He had a rehearsed quality about him. He was a performance artist in a way. — Paul Dano

The way Hollywood works, you're never sure if their first thought is to make a great film and honor the material or just another business property. — Paul Dano

As people, no matter what we are doing, your whole body is living and breathing. — Paul Dano

I tore my ACL playing basketball. — Paul Dano

It's a constant learning process - not just what you need to learn for the character or as far as good actors - but as an actor, there's no limit. Every time now, you're learning so, I think that's a good thing though. — Paul Dano

At the heart of drama is conflict. — Paul Dano

I've definitely been in ruts, and I think having some kind of perseverance is important. — Paul Dano

As an actor, I always feel you basically have to be able to delude yourself. — Paul Dano

In life, you have to keep certain parts of yourself in check because you want to be a decent human being. But one of the guilty pleasures of acting is that sometimes you get to let a little something out that you don't in life because it's not right. — Paul Dano

I volunteered at a homeless shelter in preparation for 'Being Flynn,' and when I'm walking along the Bowery, that's the first thing that comes to mind. That's a nice memory. — Paul Dano

I think you sometimes have to go hit rock bottom before you can grow and rebuild as a person. — Paul Dano

Have I seen any plays that I've been in? Uh, you know, might be a little weird. — Paul Dano

I know I'd like to direct a film at some point, and maybe I'll write it. — Paul Dano

In tragedy, it's hard to find a good resolution; it's not black and white: it's a big fog of gray. — Paul Dano

I remember going to the theatre when I was little and the lights going down and just getting really scared about what was going to happen up there. — Paul Dano

I guess sometimes fear is a good thing. It's a really good motivator. — Paul Dano

Robert De Niro's sort of like a surfer: he doesn't really force anything. So if he catches the wave, or something spills out - to watch a guy be a force at what he does. He has a good worth ethic. — Paul Dano

Michael Caine is so happy. Happy and healthy. I think he enjoys life. I think he's 82 now, and I have no clue if I'll be working at that age. — Paul Dano

Certainly, being on stage is a rush. — Paul Dano

I think the idea is to try and understand everything about the characters and where the character is coming from, from their point of view, why they say what they do. And not, 'Oh, but I would never say that. Why does the character say that?' But then making it as personal as possible. — Paul Dano