Steven Spielberg selects Paul Dano to play role inspired by his father

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

In the immortal words of Detective John Kimble: Who is your daddy and what does he do? In the case of Steven Spielberg's passion project inspired by his own childhood, the answer is Paul Dano. Hot off portraying a new iteration of The Riddler for Matt Reeves highly anticipated The Batman, Dano will shift gears to play a more wholesome and, well, Spielbergian character.

For the film, Dano will play a character inspired by Spielberg’s father, but with a separate and original voice. He joins previously announced members of the cast Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen. Williams will play the part inspired by Spielberg's own mother, while Rogen will star as a version of the filmmaker's uncle.

Production is set to begin this summer on the feature co-written by Spielberg and Tony Kushner, with production being handled by Spielberg, Kushner, and Kristie Macosko Krieger.

In other Dano-related news, the actor is currently filming the animated sci-fi drama Pantheon for Craig Silverman. In Pantheon, a young woman begins receiving messages from an unknown number that claims to be her deceased father. Trying to uncover the truth, she stumbles upon a larger conspiracy involving the singularity. Dano will play Caspian, with Maude Apatow, Katie Chang, Rosemarie DeWitt, Chris Diamantopoulos, Aaron Eckhart, William Hurt, Raza Jaffrey, Daniel Dae Kim, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Taylor Schilling, and Corey Stoll all set to star.