“The Fabelmans,” Steven Spielberg was moved to cast Paul Dano

• The Fabelmans is based on Steven Spielberg’s childhood in post-World War II America.
• The semi-autobiographical drama examines how he overcame family conflict.
• Paul Dano was the perfect actor to play Spielberg’s father, Arnold Spielberg.

It was crucial to get the casting right for Steven Spielberg’s most recent movie, The Fabelmans. The semi-autobiographical drama is heavily based on the famed director’s childhood in post-World War II America and how he overcame family conflict to pursue his love of filmmaking.

He investigated the impact of his creatively inclined mother and meticulous father on his life, particularly via the conflict between them, through his stand-in Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle).

Spielberg had to locate performers who could accurately portray these people’s behaviors and mentalities in addition to their physical appearances.

He made it plain in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that Paul Dano was the best representation of his father, Arnold Spielberg.

Dano could appear out of place playing Spielberg’s calm, loving, and conservative father given his most recent roles.

In Matt Reeves’ The Batman, he recently caused a stir with one of the more unsettling portrayals of The Riddler.

Even before that, he frequently chose eccentric and gloomy parts, from There Will Be Blood and Twelve Years a Slave to the noticeably stranger Swiss Army Man.

He has performed in comedies before; among other things, he starred in Ruby Sparks. After learning about Dano’s attitude when acting outside of character from others in the profession, Spielberg approached him about the role of his dad.

Dano acknowledged that when Spielberg requested him to join him on a Zoom call for the movie, he was really scared.

The director, too, knew right away he had made the right choice and even got emotional at how much the actor reminded him of his father during that first call with him, saying: “My heart did leap.

I just could see it.” Once The Fabelmans was detailed to him and he was asked to play the director’s father, the actor said, “My heart did leap. I just could see it.”

“I certainly didn’t want to come on my first meeting with Paul and be a little too familiar. But there was something so evocative of my dad. Ten minutes after the Zoom, I was choking. I was holding back my emotion.”

Dano, by all accounts, gave his all to capture Spielberg’s father faithfully. Over Zoom, the two spent a lot of time getting to know one another, and the actor even became lost in Arnold’s world.

He ordered a crystal radio set to be put together while he was on set to gain a sense of his passion of electronics, which inspired him to become a talented engineer.

Throughout his award-winning career, he has constantly shown that he can take on a variety of parts, but given how crucial the movie is to Spielberg, Dano seems to have gone above and beyond to get the part right.

The movie stars Michelle Williams as Mitzi Fabelman, who is based on Steven Spielberg’s mother Leah Adler, and Dano and LaBelle. Along with Seth Rogen and Judd Hirsch, the movie also stars Jeannie Berlin, Julia Butters, Robin Bartlett, and Keeley Karsten. With West Side Story colleague and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, Spielberg co-wrote and produced his passion project.

The Fabelmans premieres in a few cinemas on November 11 before getting a broader distribution on November 23 in time for Thanksgiving.

Dano plays Spielberg’s father in this film. View the trailer down below.

Also Read

Is Tonight’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ New? Latest updates

R&B singer Steve Lacy will perform as the musical guest and host....