Quotes from Paul Dano

My first paying job might have been doing a play, actually. My mom paid me to dress up as a flounder at my sister's 'Little Mermaid' - themed birthday party when I was little.

I always have an adjustment period where I'm so happy to be home, but then my sense of purpose is totally gone.

Robert De Niro's sort of like a surfer: he doesn't really force anything. So if he catches the wave, or something spills out - to watch a guy be a force at what he does. He has a good worth ethic.

I do think the first time you read a script, that gut response is very important, and that probably plants a seed that continues to blossom throughout the whole experience.

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.

I used to write a lot of songs. I was an English major in college. I was a deluded poet for a year. Totally deluded.

Even when I'm alone, my life revolves around film. I think that's why I live in New York, not L.A., where it's so concentrated.

At the heart of drama is conflict.

'Looper' was a wonderful script. Rian Johnson is the real deal and a really talented filmmaker.

I know I am always pumped, as an audience member, to go and see a Western.

I think that the Western went away for a while because part of its function was that it used to be America's action film.

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

As an actor, I always feel you basically have to be able to delude yourself.

In tragedy, it's hard to find a good resolution; it's not black and white: it's a big fog of gray.

I know I'd like to direct a film at some point, and maybe I'll write it.

It's hard to talk about acting because I don't think it's quite as explicit as a lot of people might think. And that's probably the best thing about it.

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

The way Hollywood works, you're never sure if their first thought is to make a great film and honor the material or just another business property.

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.

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.

You try to get to know your character as best as you can before you start filming - what's written and not written.

I want to do some bigger films, so long as there's some sort of exciting creative element or a good filmmaker behind them.

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

To be running away from explosions with Harrison Ford, you know, that's pretty great.