Paul Dano is Sitting Pretty

Paul Dano on bad roomies, dressing in drag and working with Kevin Kline in his new film "The Extra Man."

You appeared in your first summer blockbuster, “Knight and Day.” After building your career on smaller indies, what was it like working on your first massive-scale production?

It is a slightly different ballgame, but when you’re on set, you’re always trying to do a good job. It’s not that dissimilar, except you have a lot more time and you’re on some huge set with a lot more people. Often, I feel it’s hard to find parts that challenge you in those kinds of films. Some of the scripts I read, you know what the characters are. There’s not a lot of mystery to them. You need certain parts to make your standard story happen. I like the idea of finding parts that I know I can do but I don’t totally understand them right away.

This character [in "The Extra Man"], he’s a hopeless romantic. I get that, that’s me. He’s a people pleaser, a gentleman. I like those things. But then there’s a whole element of not knowing who you are, and he dresses up like the girl he likes. What’s that about? That’s exciting to figure out because I have to understand to be able to do it.

That’s going to make me a better actor in the long run, so even as I try bigger films, at least hopefully I’ve got some chops now where I can still be good. I want to be able to make an impression here and there, but I also have to stick to what I like because that’s how I get it up, so to speak. If you’re asked to sleep with a girl you’re not attracted to, that’s hard, right? It’s the same thing with movies, basically.

In “The Extra Man,” you play a dreamer with a skewed vision of how he sees himself. Do you have any self-perceptions that others have told you, “No, Paul, you’re not that at all”?

I feel like the way I perceive myself is not the way people perceive me. A lot of people think I must be weird because of the films I’ve done. I get that. I’ve had meetings with executives who say, “I thought you’d be a really edgy guy.” I feel like I’m a pretty normal dude.

Today, somebody was like, “Do you want to do a part where you’re, like, the cool guy? Because you look really cool.” That gave me a laugh, and made me think, “Okay, I have to do a part where I’m a fuckin’ cool-ass dude,” instead of somebody who doesn’t know who they are, lost in some existential crisis. [laughs]

You sing and play guitar in the band Mook. What’s the story behind that?

I play with three of my best friends. I went to high school with these guys so I’ve known them forever. I’m only 26, but you know, a while. Acting is someone else’s words and the directors do what they want in the edit room. So it’s nice to write something that intimate and it’s mine. I don’t care if anybody likes it. We finished making an album and we’re now trying to figure out if we’re going to do anything with it.

We’ll send it around to independent labels. Maybe we’ll just put it out ourselves or online. We play out, occasionally, your standard Mercury Lounge and other New York rock clubs. I don’t know if it’ll ever be a financial means, but I definitely want to make another album. We spent 12 days in a studio, a song a day. It was so fun.

This gives me license to ask my favorite question: What are you listening to now?

I’ve been listening to this Harry Nilsson album called “Harry.” Three or four years ago, I used to know everything that was out. Now, I’ve lost touch. I finally had a chance to really listen to [Radiohead's] “In Rainbows,” and that was a few years ago now. I like Sufjan Stevens or Antony and the Johnsons, that kind of stuff, but I’m kind of a classicist. Friends scold me for needing to branch out more, even with books.

Neil Young and Tom Waits are the two ultimates to me. I listen to a lot of hip-hop in the city and on the subway, like Biggie, Nas and Wu-Tang. In the house, I like folkier music. In the morning, I like Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles, stuff that’s soulful but upbeat. That helps me start the day. It gets me in a positive state of mind.

“The Extra Man” is now available on demand and will open in New York and Los Angeles on July 30th.

Pages: 1 2