Trivia / There Will Be Blood

• Acting for Two: Paul and Eli Sunday are both portrayed by Paul Dano, which causes some confusion.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Paul Dano was originally been cast in the much smaller role of Paul Sunday, Eli's brother, and another actor had been cast as Eli. However, after Dano had already started filming his one scene as Paul Sunday, Paul Thomas Anderson decided to replace the actor playing Eli. Anderson then asked Dano to play Eli Sunday (a much bigger role) as well as Paul Sunday, and they decided to change the film to make the brothers identical twins.
• Channel Hop: Like with No Country for Old Men, this film was originally released by two companies: Paramount Vantage and Miramax, with Miramax being owned by Disney around the time of this films release. In 2019, Paramount bought 49% of Miramax, which included distribution rights to both films, so this and No Country are now both fully owned by Paramount.
• The Danza: The main character, Daniel Plainview, is played by Daniel Day-Lewis, and Paul Dano plays both Paul Sunday and his twin brother Eli.
• Denied Parody: While the film is about the dual corrupting powers of capitalism (specifically oil-related capitalism) and self-centered religion, Paul Thomas Anderson maintains that it had nothing to do with the presidency of George W. Bush.
• Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: Deaf actor Russell Harvard as an older H.W. Plainview.
• Dueling Movies: With No Country for Old Men, which was being shot around the same time in rural Texas, ^note  One story notes how close both sets were, to the point where during filming of the oil derrick scene, Old Men had to shut down filming for the day due to the smoke interrupting the shoot. was also a Darker and Edgier film by (a) respected auteur(s), released around the same time by the same distributors (Paramount Vantage & Miramax) and competed for Best Picture at the Oscars.
• Enforced Method Acting:
  • Daniel Day-Lewis, naturally, went to town. He hit Paul Dano earlier than the intended mark during the scene where Daniel screams at Eli to heal his son. The look of shock when Eli tumbles to the ground is genuine. His hatred of Eli, which he continued even off-camera, led Paul Dano to confess he thought he would actually die during some points of the filming.
  • During the baptism scene, Paul Dano is actually smacking Daniel Day-Lewis around, bringing it around full-circle.
• Fake American: Kensington-born Daniel Day-Lewis plays the American Daniel Plainview and Belfast-born Ciarán Hinds portrays Fletcher Hamilton.
• The Other Marty: Kel O'Neill, the original actor for Eli left halfway through production.
• Playing Their Own Twin: Paul Dano, originally cast as Paul Sunday, took the larger role of Eli Sunday (making the brothers twins) after Kel O'Neill departed the production.
• Throw It In!: Daniel Day-Lewis improvised the speech he gives to the citizens of Little Boston, about building schools, bringing bread to the town, etc. Paul Thomas Anderson says of this, "It was delicious. It was Plainview on a platter."
• What Could Have Been: Philip Seymour Hoffman was the original actor in mind when Paul Thomas Anderson wrote the role of HM Tilford, but Anderson decided to cast David Warshofsky instead as a means of distancing himself from his past works & have a sort of rebirth in his career without any loose ends connecting him to other, more lighthearted films. Hoffman was also busy filming Synecdoche, New York at the time Tilford's scenes were being shot anyway.

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