The Love & Mercy star steps behind the camera for Wildlife, an adaptation of Richard Ford's novel about a boy whose parents are separating. The film was informed by Dano's parents' relationship.
In Paul Thomas Anderson's new film There Will Be Blood, the young actor Paul Dano plays a rural preacher at odds with the oilman (Daniel Day-Lewis) at the center of the story. Dano previously appeared in Little Miss Sunshine, playing the teen who was an elective mute.