Paul Dano quotes:

I love Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and Guns N' Roses and AC/DC.

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.

Spring and fall in New York are the best seasons here to get out and about. I like the little park in Dumbo between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridge. I like Prospect Park.

There are maybe 100 actors I look up to, but my first two favourite actors were Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson.

I'd always been fascinated by people who allow themselves to be so rude and irritated and foul-mouthed and hostile, but usually you can sense there's something vulnerable beneath them - a shield they use to protect that vulnerable side. Finally, when they expose that soft spot, it's kind of touching.

I do like the idea of consequence and how our actions play themselves out, but I am completely scared of knowing what the future would be like. I would never go near a fortune teller, even though it's probably not even real. I just don't wanna know.

I'm not a big shopper. I'm a pretty simple dresser, and that's not my pleasure go-to thing, looking for clothes.

I don't want my learning curve to be stunted by just all of a sudden doing work all the time and not being careful about the work that I'm doing.

I think control is a two-way street; sometimes people want to control things to keep them safe if they are afraid of life.

I love cereal. I eat several bowls a day, mostly a few late at night.

You look at the part in '12 Years A Slave,' you finish that script - I mean, it's a powerful story. You go, 'Man, I have to play a bad character in this.' And then you go, 'Well, do I want to play a bad character and contribute to a good story?'

I don't like to spend a lot of money on haircuts: I'll sometimes grow my hair and get an acting job and get them to cut it for free. I think for a lady, though, it's okay to spend a lot on a haircut.

I like a restaurant called Bruci, and there's some really nice people who work there and good food. They change their menu a lot, so maybe that's what keeps me coming back. I never know what I'm going to get.

When you repeat yourself so many times, even if you're speaking the truth, the repetition starts to feel false. Sometimes, you just feel like the words you're speaking, even if they once had meaning, have lost it. And that makes you feel kind of silly.

I volunteered at a homeless shelter in preparation for 'Being Flynn,' and when I'm walking along the Bowery, that's the first thing that comes to mind. That's a nice memory.

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 went to private school in Manhattan, and at a young age, they made us do public speaking. For some reason, I was good at standing in front of the class and speaking.

Homeless people really upset me when I was little. A lot of kids have this reaction, but I would get really worried or sad or concerned or cry.

I don't normally like getting dressed up, but when I go to events, I like to look put together. I've got to say, getting in a nice suit feels good.

I'm a sucker for period pieces. There is always great opportunity for research and to delude yourself into feeling like you are in a different time and place.

On 'There Will Be Blood,' I was cast at the last minute. I had 3 and a half to 4 days to get ready for the first day. I just went for it, threw myself in there and gave it everything I had. That was just guts and instinct, not a lot of preparation.

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.

When I'm not acting, I like to go home and be really normal. So I usually grow out my hair until I get the next part.

The world of the homeless is a tough and interesting world.

I think you sometimes have to go hit rock bottom before you can grow and rebuild as a person.

In 'There Will Be Blood,' my character was someone who was an actor himself almost. He had a rehearsed quality about him. He was a performance artist in a way.

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.

I know an actor who would play one type of part but could never get cast as tough. Once he got cast as tough, as a cop, he only got offered cop roles. It's a funny business in that regard. It's all about perception.

There's a lot of people that I would love to work with. There's a lot of different kinds of parts I wanna play. As your career progresses, you hope that you get some more opportunity or some more choice.

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.

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.

I don't really know what kind of actor I am.

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

As an actor, the toughest thing is being subject to circumstance. Meaning: What scripts are out there that are available?

People have asked me about playing outsiders. I don't consider myself an outsider. Maybe that's why I'm interested in that. I'm not really sure.

I go down to the dive bar around the corner when I go out. I don't go to the showbiz parties.

I like listening to my playlist on the iPod. I don't want radio with commercials.

Your director is your main support - actors don't generally give each other advice on set, not in my experience.

Sometimes we fall in love with the idea of a person and have trouble seeing the real thing.

Films can be entertaining without shying away from exploring something. They can be magical and have fantasy, but also can have enough reality that you can be really emotionally invested.

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

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

One of my favorite things I read was John Steinbeck's journals while he was writing 'East of Eden,' which was so cool.

It's a funny thing. You sort of never figure it out with acting. You're always learning.

For me, playing a really bad character is about figuring out what brought the person to where we need him.

I started acting pretty young, so I haven't had too many odd jobs. But I used to sell candy out of my locker in middle school.

The only exercise I get is playing sports because I hate the gym. I try to learn to love it.

I've definitely been in ruts, and I think having some kind of perseverance is important.

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

I try to leave my work at the door when I leave the set. It's almost like summer camp. You go in hard, then you leave, and it's done.

I feel like I have to be responsible for what I'm participating in or putting out into the world.

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 think it is important to make sure that I have my real life as well, because Hollywood can certainly seem like an alternate reality sometimes.

I think 'American Pie' is great.

To be called a genius at 17 or 18 years old can sometimes cause arrested development.

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

I am baffled by good writing.

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.

Let's say honorary favorite New Yorker is John Lennon, and favorite real New Yorker is Biggie, because he's the best.

When my girlfriend's away, I cook a big vat of meaty pasta and sauce and eat that for about a week. Then I eat out the rest of the time. When she's home, we eat at home probably twice a week. I chop, she cooks.

With somebody like Harrison Ford, they're so commanding and confident, and you know, he does have a certain power or charisma, and those are things that are sort of ineffable.

I'm very low-maintenance.

People think memorizing lines is hard, when that's the last thing you worry about. You get that done, and then you've got to worry about the internal stuff, which is the challenging part.

I guess sometimes fear is a good thing. It's a really good motivator.

New York is kind of a mythological city in may ways.

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 would not take a girl to a club on a Thursday. I would not take her to a really noisy, swanky restaurant.

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

One of my favorite films is 'Dumb and Dumber.'

One of my favorite films is 'Dumb and Dumber.' I'd love to do some really silly comedy someday.

I think was overly empathetic for a while in my life.

Everything you do, every experience that you have, enlightens you a little bit or worsens you.

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

The whole being-in-a-room interview thing, at a junket or a film festival, is very inhuman. You meet the person, have five or 10 minutes to talk, and it's not like a conversation.

Sometimes I think your intellect can get in your way as an actor or an artist. When you come from a world of improv and comedy, you're able to let it flicker and fall out.

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

I think that one of the strangest things about being an actor is, it's almost freelance work.

Listening to hard rock on the subway doesn't work for me, especially modern hard rock. Driving in L.A. helped me to understand the appeal of that music.

There's that thing that if you want to have any kind of lasting love, I think you have to love the whole person and not just the parts of them that you choose.

I don't like tight pants on guys.

I mean, to feel in good hands as an actor... it's the best feeling.

Nobody is a perfect actor.

I don't have any tattoos.

[Swiss Armi Man] was a super joyful film to go make. I mean, there was stuff that was, like, totally bananas. But it was kind of par for the course every day with that stuff.

As your career progresses, you hope that you get some more opportunity, or some more choice.

Being actors is a strange job. To try to go live that out, it's a very strange thing to want to do when you step back and think about it.

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

I approach every role from scratch.

I dont normally like getting dressed up, but when I go to events, I like to look put together. Ive got to say, getting in a nice suit feels good.

I feel like having something that you're passionate about helps to keep you young.

I feel like rumors get crazy and people blow up the whole internet with news. I feel like, once you're doing a job, you shouldn't talk about it.

I know that part of why I was excited to do this was the sense of play and childlike wonder and the spirit that's in the Daniels' work. I think we're tracking some issues that are actually quite sad or lonely but I think in a joyful, creative way. So I like that balance. I think singing in the woods, the music and spirit of that - there's something very pure about the film [Swiss Army Man].

I like purple too. I looked up color psychology before doing any house painting, because I was curious what the colors I like mean. And purple is very royal and creative.

I love that it's such an uncynical film [Swiss Army Man]. I think it's got a lot of love in there, and I think that's a nice thing in this day and age.

I regretted not being a person in shape many a day while we were making this film [Swiss Army Man].

I remember going to the theatre when I was little and the lights going down and just getting really scared about what was going to happen up there.

I think carrying your gut, or your instincts, through all the learning, is one of the most important things. You learn to prepare for a part in different ways, you learn to experiment, what you do for the character - you try working in different ways.

I think I was almost 12, so I knew who George C. Scott was, but if I could work with George C. Scott now, I'd be so pumped.

I think it was a lot of trust as well [between me and Daniel Radcliffe]. If we didn't have that, it could be a very painful film [ Swiss Army Man] to go make.

I think it's more important to try and make a good film than give a good performance.

I think there was a lot of working out the arc of how Manny [Daniel Radcliffe] talks. Scene to scene [in the Swiss army Man], if I would start talking a little too well, they would come in and say like, "Hey, you need to [dial back] your ability to speak" - things like that.

I was actually thinking about starting like an app where you can watch videos of me carrying Daniel [Radcliffe in Swiss Army Man].

I was constantly surprised by how things took shape, whether it was something that was funny or [sharp] or some of these more simple, quiet moments in the woods. Honestly I would say everything and nothing. I honestly don't think it's different than on any other film [Swis Army Man]. I think I would probably ask questions of everything always.

I would like to do something really big and then something really small, and see what it's like to work in that way, but in front of a live audience.

I would say that the emotional content of the film [Swiss Army Man] took me by surprise, and sometimes I would probably want to capture the unique tone of it.

If you could call me buff, my version of buff was when I finished that film [Swiss Army Man].

I'm really excited to share the movie [Swiss Army Man] with people, so I'm glad that people are seeing it. And I want them to, because I think it's a really fun movie to experience sitting next to people. It makes it funnier. It makes it more comfortable. It makes it sweeter.

It just so happens that when I was, like, 19 or 20, I got a couple of auditions and got a couple parts with good people. Of the thousands of auditions where you don't get the part, I've done a couple of jobs where you do it and you're like, "Okay, this is good."

It's a constant learning process - not just what you need to learn for the character or as far as good actors - but as an actor, there's no limit. Every time now, you're learning so, I think that's a good thing though.

Michael Caine is so happy. Happy and healthy. I think he enjoys life. I think he's 82 now, and I have no clue if I'll be working at that age.

My favorite color is blue, and my secret favorite color is pink.

My first thought about acting, growing up here in New York, was theater, and I feel like I need to force myself to go get my ass kicked in a rehearsal room and do one of those plays at some point.

Of course I think it's a movie for everybody [Insane Farting Corpse], but that's probably just because it's a movie for me.

On set, the playground for the character, how much it takes varies. Is it like ballet, is it like jazz? The content always lends itself to the form, and it's really not mathematics.

Reading the script [Insane Farting Corpse], by page two or three, I felt that way. I thought, I'm in. It was so beautiful and insane and funny and I wanted to see it happen.

Sometimes it's summer camp on location. So it's nice to have a little New York community of people you love.

The first time I went to Daniel's [Radcliffe] apartment to just hang out before, because we're doing this crazy thing together, right away he said, "Do you want to put your hand in my mouth so we can get used to this?" And he was really ready to go. So we broke down any barriers pretty quick.

The less acting you have to do, the better, I think.

The only constant I can find is hard work.

This is so lame to say in a magazine, but I just grabbed some pink wallpaper. I find it to be a very relaxing color.