As Paul Dano promotes Dumb Money, the actor is having his interesting career profiled by The Guardian.
He’s not just trying to enter this awards season but also reflecting on what led him to his current race. You can’t talk about Dano’s most recent work without noting his jaw-dropping turn in Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
As The Riddler, he shocked audiences with his dedicated and focused performance, and it seemed like it wasn’t easy to get what the actor and director wanted. In a piece centered around the actor’s work, The Batman director spoke highly of the performer while revealing the grueling filming process.
“Paul loves doing a lot of takes, as do I,” Reeves said. “We took two days on the final scene between him and Robert Pattinson as Batman.”
Adding, “We must have easily done 70 or 80 takes. Paul loves exploring. He’s obsessive that way.”
He continues, “There were all these moments as the Riddler where he’d be tickled by something and then fly into a rage. You never knew from take to take where that switch would come. I’d be sitting there with the headphones on, trying to stifle my laughter because he’d always do something surprising. Paul would ask me: ‘Was that crazy? Was that too much?’ I’d say: ‘No, it’s fantastic. Let’s do another.'”
This isn’t the first time Dano’s commitment and dedication to getting the right take has come up; in a previous interview from IndieWire, Reeves notes Dano had 200 takes of just one scene where he’s recording his voice when the Riddler is heard over the phone.
Matt Reeves is currently prepping The Batman 2 as the film awaits its October 3, 2025 release.
The Batman sees Robert Pattinson (The Lighthouse) donning the cape and cowl as Bruce Wayne/Batman alongside Zoe Kravitz (Big Little Lies) as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Colin Farrell (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin, Paul Dano (Escape at Dannemora) as Edward Nashton/The Riddler, Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) as Jim Gordon, Andy Serkis (War for the Planet of the Apes) as Alfred Pennyworth, John Turturro (The Big Lebowski) as Carmine Falcone, Alex Ferns (Chernobyl) as Commissioner Pete Savage, Con O’Neill (Ordinary Lies) as Chief Mackenzie Bock, Peter Sarsgaard (The Killing) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson and Jayme Lawson (Farewell Amor) as Bella Real.
