Line #63 Creator/PaulDano


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2	[[caption-width-right:280: ''[[MemeticMutation Classic.]]'']]
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4	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.
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6	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''.
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8	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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11	!!He appeared in:
12	* ''The Newcomers'' (2000) as Joel
13	* ''L.I.E'' (2001) as Howie Blitzer
14	* ''Series/TheSopranos'' (two episodes, one in 2002 and one in 2004) as Patrick Whalen
15	* ''Film/TheEmperorsClub'' (2002) as Martin Blythe
16	* ''Film/{{The Girl Next Door\|2004}}'' (2004) as Klitz
17	* ''Film/LittleMissSunshine'' (2006) as Dwayne Hoover
18	* ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'' (2007) as [[ActingForTwo Paul]] [[PlayingTheirOwnTwin and Eli]] Sunday
19	* ''Film/{{Gigantic}}'' (2008) as Brian Weathersby
20	* ''Literature/WhereTheWildThingsAre'' (2009) as Alexander
21	* ''Film/KnightAndDay'' (2010) as Simon Feck
22	* ''Film/MeeksCutoff'' (2011) as Thomas Gately
23	* ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'' (2011) as Percy Dolarhyde
24	* ''Film/{{Looper}}'' (2012) as Seth
25	* ''Film/RubySparks'' (2012) as Calvin Weir-Fields
26	* ''Film/{{Prisoners}}'' (2013) as Alex Jones
27	* ''Film/TwelveYearsASlave'' (2013) as John Tibeats
28	* ''Film/LoveAndMercy'' (2014) as Music/BrianWilson (young)
29	* ''Youth'' (2015) as Jimmy Tree
30	* ''Series/{{War and Peace\|2016}}'' (2016) as Pierre Bezukhov
31	* ''Film/SwissArmyMan'' (2016) as Hank Thompson
32	* ''Film/{{Okja}}'' (2017) as Jay
33	* ''Series/EscapeAtDannemora'' (2018)
34	* ''Film/{{The Batman\|2022}}'' (2022) as [[Characters/TheBatman2022TheRiddler Edward Nashton / The Riddler]]
35	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pantheon}}'' (2022) as Caspian Keyes
36	* ''Film/TheFabelmans'' (2022) as Burt Fabelman
37	* ''Film/DumbMoney'' (2023) as Keith Gill
38	* ''Series/MrAndMrsSmith2024'' (2024) as "Hot Neighbor"
39	* ''Film/{{Spaceman\|2024}}'' (2024) as Hanuš
40
41	!!Tropes:
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43	* AtomicFBomb: '''[[Film/LittleMissSunshine FUCK!!!!!!]]'''
44	* 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:
45	** Not beaten up in ''Film/LittleMissSunshine'', but got a lifelong dream of his crushed and had a nervous breakdown.
46	** Hit in the crotch with a fencing sabre in ''Film/{{The Girl Next Door\|2004}}''.
47	** Repeatedly hit in the crotch and slammed into a metal bar in ''Film/CowboysAndAliens''.
48	** Whipped in ''Film/TwelveYearsASlave''
49	** Slapped around, dragged in mud and [[spoiler:beaten to death with a bowling pin]] in ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood''.
50	** Kidnapped and brutally tortured in ''Film/{{Prisoners}}''.
51	** Slowly dismembered and then kept alive in captivity for decades in ''Film/{{Looper}}''.
52	** Beaten by two different people in ''Gigantic''.
53	** Gets hit by a car [[spoiler:and dies]] in ''The Good Heart''.
54	** Suffering from Schizophrenia, AbusiveParents, and CreativeDifferences in ''Film/LoveAndMercy''.
55	** Held as a prisoner under horrible circumstances in the 2016 BBC adaptation of ''Literature/WarAndPeace''.
56	** Attacked by a bear in '' Film/SwissArmyMan''.
57	** [[spoiler: Gets shot twice InTheBack]] in ''Series/EscapeAtDannemora''.
58	** 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.]]
59	** 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}}''.
60	* CreatorCouple: With playwright and actress Creator/ZoeKazan.
61	* LargeHam: Has a tendency to [[TheScream scream]] at least once in every movie he's in.
62	* OlderThanTheyLook: He still looks like a teenager despite already pushing 40.
63	* ProductionPosse: With Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.
64	* RealLifeRelative: He co-starred with his partner Creator/ZoeKazan in ''Film/RubySparks''.
65	* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Many jokes have been made of his somewhat feminine screaming that he does in almost every movie.
66	* StarMakingRole: Dwayne Hoover in ''Film/LittleMissSunshine'' marked the start of his rise to fame.
67	* {{Typecasting}}: He is often cast as whiny, wimpy, or ButtMonkey characters.
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69	'''[[TheStinger FUCK!!!!!!!!!]]'''

Context Creator / PaulDano