Paul Dano breaks silence over Quentin Tarantino's brutal insults with emotional admission

It's been almost two months since director Quentin Tarantino savagely slammed Paul Dano as the 'weakest f*****g' actor in Hollywood, and only now has the Golden Globe-winner responded.

For those who missed it, back in early December, the 62-year-old filmmaker was invited onto the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast, where he was asked by the host to reveal his favourite blockbuster flicks of the 21st century.

Issuing his long-awaited response, the star kicked off with his all-time favourite, Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down.

Between this action-packed number and Steven Spielberg's West Side Story - which sat in 20th place - he ranked Paul Thomas Anderson's 2007 eight-time Oscar-winning masterpiece There Will Be Blood in fifth.

What did Tarantino say about Dano?

Asked for her reasoning, Tarantino candidly confessed he'd have placed it high, if not for the film's 41-year-old 'fatal flaw', Paul Dano.

Despite the actor - who was just 23 at the time - playing a dual role in the period flick that would earn him a Best Supporting actor BAFTA nomination, Tarantino slammed his performance compared to lead, Daniel Day-Lewis.

"Obviously, it’s supposed to be a two-hander," he continued. "But it’s also drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander. [Dano] is weak sauce, man.

"He’s a weak sister."

Tarantino also name-dropped fellow film star Austin Butler as a better choice for the production (despite him being just 16 when the film was released), adding he'd 'have been wonderful in that role'.

"[Dano] is just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy," he went on. "The weakest f*cking actor in SAG."

Tarantino slammed Dano as the 'weakest f*****g actor' (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)

How did Dano respond?

As we say, it might've taken the New York-born actor a hot minute to respond to Tarantino's controversial comments - and even though he now has, they seemed to be somewhat indirect to the fiery remarks.

Dano appeared at the Sundance Film Festival yesterday (28 Jan), where he was asked about big-name bust-up.

Moments earlier, on the same red carpet, actress Toni Colette had been asked to comment on Tarantino's rant about Dano, to which she immediately jumped to the latter's defence.

"F**k that guy!" she began of the director. "He must’ve been high. It was just confusing. Who does that?"

Later, Dano thanked 53-year-old Colette - whom he previously worked alongside in 2006 drama Little Miss Sunshine - and a number of other stars for supporting him in the days since Tarantino's remarks first hit headlines.

"That was really nice," the Prisoners actor gushed. "I was also incredibly grateful that the world spoke up for me so I didn’t have to."

Toni Colette also took the opportunity to defend Dano (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

Did anyone else speak up for Dano?

Also appearing at the star-studded event earlier this week, Jonathan Dayton - the director of Little Miss Sunshine - was asked his thoughts on Tarantino's comments, which he slammed as an 'embarrassment'.

Of Dano, he added: "I can only think that his rawness of his performance made Tarantino uncomfortable."

Dayton's former co-director on the production, Valerie Faris went on to add: "You know what was interesting was the people coming out to defend Paul. There was immediately - he is loved by so many.

"He is so smart."