Currently setting hearts aflutter in the BBC’s brand new adaptation of War and Peace (showing on BBC1 on Sunday nights at 9pm), US actor Paul Dano is fast becoming Hollywood hot property. If you wanted to find out more about him, now is your chance. Here are 15 brilliant facts about him!
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He’s a musician, as well as an actor
Paul plays in an alternative rock group called Mook. He’s their lead guitarist and singer!
2. He loves Jazz
Although he plays and sings in a rock band, he has a passion for the contemporary jazz movement and loves jazz music in general. Smoooooth!
3. He really impressed a British acting great
Daniel Day-Lewis was so taken with Dano’s skill and talent as an actor, when he watched him perform, he recommended him to be cast in a role in There Will Be Blood, which has become one of Dano’s most notable performances to date.
4. He’s happily settled with a long term girlfriend
He’s been dating fellow actor Zoe Kazan for the last 8 years. She’s best known for her roles in Revolutionary Road and The Savages.
5. His family are Austrian and Slovakian
Although he was born in New York, his family are of Austrian and Slovakian descent. He grew up in New York and Connecticut.
6. He’s a child of the 80s!
His youthful looks might make you think he’s maybe only a 20 something, but he was actually born in June 1984, making him 31 years old. There are good family genes at work there!
7. He occasionally forgets to learn his lines!
When he turned up to audition for his role in Little Miss Sunshine, the casting crew were dismayed to find he hadn’t learned his lines, so they rewrote his character from a chirpy happy go lucky young man, to a suicidal mute boy. That taught him…
8. He’s rated highly among his peers
Before his 30th birthday, he was ranked at number 5 Entertainment Weekly’s list of “30 Under 30”, a list of the brightest and most talented young stars in the USA.
9. He’s much taller than he looks
In War and Peace, you get the impression he might not be huge in stature, but he actually comes in and 6 foot 1 in height, making him much taller than most!
10. Paul Dano is not his real name
The real family name is Drano. But the “r” was dropped from the name during a moment of misspelling at one time and it stuck.
11. He’s often cast in down-at-heel roles
via meatgrinder
His shy, geeky looks mean he is often cast in roles in which he might appear downtrodden, or get beaten up, Little Miss Sunshine was a good example of this. But he’s a versatile and intuitive actor who can turn his hand to pretty much anything.
12. His birthday is in June
This means his starsign is Gemini!
13. He has had some very important award nominations
He was nominated for a BAFTA for his role in There Will Be Blood and a Golden Globe for Love and Mercy, in which he plays a young Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys.
14. He made his debut on Broadway at a young age
He made his Broadway stage debut aged just 10 – clearly he was bitten by the acting bug very young!
15. He is a shy introvert
He is generally a shy, introverted actor and does not like to pursue fame at all. He does give interviews and make chat show appearances, but tries to shun the limelight when he can, preferring to let his art speak for him.
