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[[caption-width-right:280: ''[[MemeticMutation Classic.]]'']]

Paul Franklin Dano[[note]]pronounced "Day-no", contrary to the common mispronunciation "Dan-oh"[[/note]] (born June 19, 1984) is an American actor, director, and producer.

He has appeared in films such as ''L.I.E.'', ''Film/LittleMissSunshine'', ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'', ''Film/{{Gigantic}}'', ''Film/MeeksCutoff'', ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'', ''Film/{{Looper}}'', ''Film/BeingFlynn'', ''Film/RubySparks'', ''Film/{{Prisoners}}'', ''Film/TwelveYearsASlave'', and ''Film/TheBatman2022''.

His debut as a director, ''Wildlife'', was released in early 2018. Besides directing, he also co-wrote the script with Creator/ZoeKazan, his long-term girlfriend and [[CreatorCouple a recurring collaborator in earlier movies of his]]. She gave birth to their daughter in 2018. They later had a son in 2022.
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!!He appeared in:
* ''The Newcomers'' (2000) as Joel
* ''L.I.E'' (2001) as Howie Blitzer
* ''Series/TheSopranos'' (two episodes, one in 2002 and one in 2004) as Patrick Whalen
* ''Film/TheEmperorsClub'' (2002) as Martin Blythe
* ''Film/{{The Girl Next Door|2004}}'' (2004) as Klitz
* ''Film/LittleMissSunshine'' (2006) as Dwayne Hoover
* ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'' (2007) as [[ActingForTwo Paul]] [[PlayingTheirOwnTwin and Eli]] Sunday
* ''Film/{{Gigantic}}'' (2008) as Brian Weathersby
* ''Literature/WhereTheWildThingsAre'' (2009) as Alexander
* ''Film/KnightAndDay'' (2010) as Simon Feck
* ''Film/MeeksCutoff'' (2011) as Thomas Gately
* ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'' (2011) as Percy Dolarhyde
* ''Film/{{Looper}}'' (2012) as Seth
* ''Film/RubySparks'' (2012) as Calvin Weir-Fields
* ''Film/{{Prisoners}}'' (2013) as Alex Jones
* ''Film/TwelveYearsASlave'' (2013) as John Tibeats
* ''Film/LoveAndMercy'' (2014) as Music/BrianWilson (young)
* ''Youth'' (2015) as Jimmy Tree
* ''Series/{{War and Peace|2016}}'' (2016) as Pierre Bezukhov
* ''Film/SwissArmyMan'' (2016) as Hank Thompson
* ''Film/{{Okja}}'' (2017) as Jay
* ''Series/EscapeAtDannemora'' (2018)
* ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'' (2022) as [[Characters/TheBatman2022TheRiddler Edward Nashton / The Riddler]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pantheon}}'' (2022) as Caspian Keyes
* ''Film/TheFabelmans'' (2022) as Burt Fabelman
* ''Film/DumbMoney'' (2023) as Keith Gill
* ''Series/MrAndMrsSmith2024'' (2024) as "Hot Neighbor"
* ''Film/{{Spaceman|2024}}'' (2024) as Hanuš

!!Tropes:

* AtomicFBomb: '''[[Film/LittleMissSunshine FUCK!!!!!!]]'''
* TheChewToy: He's not killed off enough to be a ChronicallyKilledActor, but his characters tend to take ''a lot'' of punishment (sometimes they qualify as VeryPunchableMan), to the point where a podcast called "[[https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/ispauldanook Is Paul Dano OK?]]" was created to cover his career and lampoon all the abuse he's taken. Needless to say, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfeXkeHp4F4 fans love making jokes about his track record of being beaten up.]] For example, he's been:
** Not beaten up in ''Film/LittleMissSunshine'', but got a lifelong dream of his crushed and had a nervous breakdown.
** Hit in the crotch with a fencing sabre in ''Film/{{The Girl Next Door|2004}}''.
** Repeatedly hit in the crotch and slammed into a metal bar in ''Film/CowboysAndAliens''.
** Whipped in ''Film/TwelveYearsASlave''
** Slapped around, dragged in mud and [[spoiler:beaten to death with a bowling pin]] in ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood''.
** Kidnapped and brutally tortured in ''Film/{{Prisoners}}''.
** Slowly dismembered and then kept alive in captivity for decades in ''Film/{{Looper}}''.
** Beaten by two different people in ''Gigantic''.
** Gets hit by a car [[spoiler:and dies]] in ''The Good Heart''.
** Suffering from Schizophrenia, AbusiveParents, and CreativeDifferences in ''Film/LoveAndMercy''.
** Held as a prisoner under horrible circumstances in the 2016 BBC adaptation of ''Literature/WarAndPeace''.
** Attacked by a bear in '' Film/SwissArmyMan''.
** [[spoiler: Gets shot twice InTheBack]] in ''Series/EscapeAtDannemora''.
** Ironically, this is mostly {{averted|Trope}} in [[spoiler:''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'', where he's [[NonActionBigBad taken into custody without a fight]] and protected behind glass during his confrontation with Batman, who instead goes on to fight his cult of copycats as they are about to commit a terrorist attack. The most he gets is his head slammed into a counter by a cop during his arrest. Ironic because he's playing the Riddler, who's usually the kind of SmugSnake who gets at least one cathartic punch from Batman over the course of the story.]]
** Raised in a verbally and emotionally abusive household [[spoiler:as an attempt to be raised identically as the man he's cloned from to recreate that genius, right down to being constantly monitored and having a girl hired to be his love interest]], having his existing paranoia validated and life destroyed by learning all of the above, and then immediately thrown into a war between uploaded human minds now capable of hijacking nearly anything with online capabilities as [[spoiler:the only person who can fix a problem that forces them to burn themselves out]] when he would ''really'' much rather not to in ''WesternAnimation/{{Pantheon}}''.
* CreatorCouple: With playwright and actress Creator/ZoeKazan.
* LargeHam: Has a tendency to [[TheScream scream]] at least once in every movie he's in.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He still looks like a teenager despite already pushing 40.
* ProductionPosse: With Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.
* RealLifeRelative: He co-starred with his partner Creator/ZoeKazan in ''Film/RubySparks''.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Many jokes have been made of his somewhat feminine screaming that he does in almost every movie.
* StarMakingRole: Dwayne Hoover in ''Film/LittleMissSunshine'' marked the start of his rise to fame.
* {{Typecasting}}: He is often cast as whiny, wimpy, or ButtMonkey characters.
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'''[[TheStinger FUCK!!!!!!!!!]]'''
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