Pulp Fiction filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has often divided film fans with his unfiltered opinions. However, his comments about The Batman star Paul Dano last month have led to him being condemned by many of his contemporaries in Hollywood.
Appearing on The Bret Easton Ellis podcast to discuss his top 20 movies of the 21st century, Tarantino heaped praise on Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, but laid into Dano. It wasn't just that he didn't enjoy the actor's performance; the Django Unchained helmer's attack got personal and nasty.
As a reminder, he told Ellis, "It’s supposed to be a two-hander, but it’s also drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander. [Dano] is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister," adding that Dano, in his opinion, is the "weakest f***ing actor in SAG." Tarantino also called him "a weak, weak, uninteresting guy."
Now, Batman & Robin star George Clooney has responded with his take on the prolific filmmaker's remarks about both Dano and subsequent comments he made about Loki star Owen Wilson and Scream's Matthew Lillard.
They shared the screen in From Dusk Till Dawn, and Clooney, who has also directed, made a point of defending his fellow actors while accepting the award for "Best Actor" at AARP's Movies for Grownups Awards for his work in Jay Kelly.
"By the way, Paul Dano, Owen Wilson, and Matthew Lillard, I would be honored to work with those actors. Honored," he said, noting that Jay Kelly was made "by people who love actors."
Clooney added, "People I’ve known most of my life...actually, most of them are actors. I have a great affinity [for them], and I don’t enjoy watching people be cruel. We are living in a time of cruelty. We don’t need to be adding to it."
There's no love lost between Clooney and Tarantino, something that's evident from a 2024 interview with the former. "Quentin said some s*** about me recently, so I’m a little irritated by him," he explained. "He did some interview where he was naming movie stars, and he was talking about [Brad Pitt], and somebody else, and then this guy goes, 'Well, what about George?' He goes, he’s not a movie star."
"And then he literally said something like, 'Name me a movie since the millennium.' And I was like, 'Since the millennium? That’s kind of my whole f****** career,'" Clooney continued. "So now I’m like, all right, dude, f*** off. I don’t mind giving him s***. He gave me s***."
Despite the backlash, Tarantino likely isn't concerned with upsetting anyone with his hot takes. While defending Dano, many have pointed out that the director behind movies like Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, and Inglourious Basterds failed as an actor before deciding to step behind the camera.
Dano, in contrast, has earned nominations for a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Clooney, meanwhile, has found plenty of success as an actor and filmmaker, winning two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. Tarantino has won two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.
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