Top 161 Quotes & Sayings by Paul Dano

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American actor Paul Dano.

Last updated on November 7, 2024.

Paul Franklin Dano is an American actor. He began his career on Broadway before making his film debut in The Newcomers (2000). He won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance for his role in L.I.E. (2001) and received accolades for his role as Dwayne Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). For his dual roles as Paul and Eli Sunday in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2007), he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

American - Actor | Born: June 19, 1984

Source: Wikipedia

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

The world of the homeless is a tough and interesting world.

Paul Dano

Everything you do, every experience that you have, enlightens you a little bit or worsens you.

Paul Dano

I think that one of the strangest things about being an actor is, it's almost freelance work.

Paul Dano

I don't have any tattoos.

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 tore my ACL playing basketball.

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

I've seen people, where if they have to wait around the set for three hours, and they call you at the wrong time, and they're not ready for you, some people don't like that.

Paul Dano

I like movies a lot, and I feel really excited when I see a movie that moves me the right way.

Paul Dano

As an actor, the toughest thing is being subject to circumstance. Meaning: What scripts are out there that are available?

Paul Dano

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

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

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

Paul Dano

I love filming in New York. I love New York movies, too. I just like it when people can take New York and make it their own, because there are so many different New Yorks.

Paul Dano

I like a restaurant called Bruci, and there's some really nice people who work there and good food. They change their menu a lot, so maybe that's what keeps me coming back. I never know what I'm going to get.

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

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

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

I don't like tight pants on guys.

Paul Dano

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

Paul Dano

I am baffled by good writing.

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

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

I think 'American Pie' is great.

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

George C. Scott, man, was a powerful dude.

Paul Dano

I like characters that make me feel challenged and sort of inspired.

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

The idea of writer's block or not having inspiration is totally terrifying to me.

Paul Dano

I don't want my learning curve to be stunted by just all of a sudden doing work all the time and not being careful about the work that I'm doing.

Paul Dano

One of my favorite films is 'Dumb and Dumber.' I'd love to do some really silly comedy someday.

Paul Dano

Homeless people really upset me when I was little. A lot of kids have this reaction, but I would get really worried or sad or concerned or cry.

Paul Dano

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

Paul Dano

I started acting pretty young, so I haven't had too many odd jobs. But I used to sell candy out of my locker in middle school.

Paul Dano

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

Paul Dano

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

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

Theater is hard.

Paul Dano

I'm not a person who needs to chit-chat between takes by any means.

Paul Dano

I don't normally like getting dressed up, but when I go to events, I like to look put together. I've got to say, getting in a nice suit feels good.

Paul Dano

The hardest thing about working with your partner is that the work starts to become first.

Paul Dano

I don't really know what kind of actor I am.

Paul Dano

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

Paul Dano

I don't like to spend a lot of money on haircuts: I'll sometimes grow my hair and get an acting job and get them to cut it for free. I think for a lady, though, it's okay to spend a lot on a haircut.

Paul Dano

'Little Miss Sunshine' was really important to me.

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 was overly empathetic for a while in my life.

Paul Dano

Certainly, being on stage is a rush.

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 don't know that praise is always a good thing.

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

Paul Dano

Being actors is a strange job.

Paul Dano

Nobody is a perfect actor.

Paul Dano

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

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 think it is important to make sure that I have my real life as well, because Hollywood can certainly seem like an alternate reality sometimes.

Paul Dano

I'm very low-maintenance.

Paul Dano

I sort of grew up doing theater. And that's how I got into film, actually.

Paul Dano