Paul Franklin Dano is an American actor and comic book writer. He won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance for his role in L.I.E. (2001) and gained wider recognition for playing a troubled teenager in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). For playing identical twins in Paul Thomas Anderson's period drama There Will Be Blood (2007), he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Dano in 2024
Dano in 2007
Dano at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival
Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American tragicomedy road film directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris from a screenplay written by Michael Arndt. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, and Alan Arkin, all of whom play members of a dysfunctional family taking the youngest (Breslin) to compete in a child beauty pageant. It was produced by Big Beach Films on a budget of US$8 million. Filming began on June 6, 2005, and took place over 30 days in Arizona and Southern California.
Theatrical release poster
A Volkswagen T2 Microbus, similar to the one in the film
Five modified vans were used during filming to capture various angles of the characters, including this one through the windshield.
To make Abigail Breslin's character (centre) appear larger than the other girls, she wore a padded suit. Much of the equipment and costumes exhibited during the pageant were provided by actual contestants' parents.