Paul Dano is one of the most interesting actors working today. He’s spent a majority of his career doing grounded, director-driven projects that has made him an independent film darling. But ever since taking on the role as the Riddler in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, Dano is more recognizable than ever, thrusting himself into the center of pop culture. The transition was certainly different then what the Prisoners actor was used to, and in turn was surprised by the security measures taken on The Batman in order to keep details about the film under wraps. Dano recently revealed Warner Brothers’ even used a tracker to keep some “special” materials from the film a secret.
In a recent interview with GQ, Dano talked about his career as a whole and the recent transition into more commercial films. Dano wanted to commit to the character of the Riddler as much as possible, and make sure he captured the iconic supervillain in the most authentic way possible. He wanted to submerge himself into the character, and work heavily with production materials available to him. Instead of a digital copy of some of the renderings of the film that may be allotted to Dano on a smaller budget film, the There Will Be Blood actor revealed The Batman insisted on hard copies that were heavily accounted for and tracked. Dano divulged:
But this was the first time I had a binder with a locking code on it. Then they added a tracking device.
The secrecy around The Batman was most likely very different than Dano had experienced working on films like Little Miss Sunshine and Swiss Army Man. Batman is a coveted piece of intellectual property, and with so much fan hype around the project, nobody working on the movie wanted to be responsible for a potential leak. While leaking footage may have been beneficial for some films in the past, it seems like production materials on The Batman were well managed, wanting to save details about the film for opening night.
These mysterious production materials clearly were put into the right hands because Dano’s performance as The Riddler was astounding and he has quickly become a fan favorite. The multi-talented actor has immersed himself fully into the comic book world, and has even started writing his own comic books about his character, titled Riddler: Year One.
Dano must've had a blast working on The Batman, because he has expressed an interest in returning as the character for the much-anticipated, announced sequel. While Barry Keoghan’s Joker has been teased as the primary villain for the follow up Batman venture, I’m sure there is enough room in Gotham for the both of them to appear in The Batman 2.
We may have to wait a while for another jaw-dropping Paul Dano Riddler performance, but in the meantime, you can catch the actor in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, which is receiving great reviews out of the film festival circuit, and will hit theaters on November 11th. For more information on other movies coming to theaters later this year, make sure to check out our 2022 movie release schedule.
