‘The Fabelmans’: Paul Dano Calls the ‘Overwhelming’ Experience of Portraying Steven Spielberg’s Family a ‘Heavy Cloak to Bear’
With his new movie, The Fabelmans, writer/director Steven Spielberg tells the story of his childhood and passion for cinema. Paul Dano, who plays a character inspired by Spielberg’s father, recently revealed how “overwhelming” the experience was and why it was a “heavy cloak to bear.”
Steven Spielberg tells his story in ‘The Fabelmans’
Spielberg is an award-winning writer, director, and producer who has made some of the most popular films to date. His filmography includes dozens of hits, including Jaws, The Goonies, the Indiana Jones series, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Munich, and Lincoln.
He is considered a pioneer in modern cinema, and one of the most prolific filmmakers of all time. With his latest offering, Spielberg reveals how it all began.
The Fabelmans tells the story of Spielberg’s early years with his parents and sisters. It follows Sammy Fabelman, a boy from New Jersey who realizes his filmmaking talent as a child.
Sammy’s mother, Mitzi, is a concert pianist who feeds into her son’s passion for cinema. But his father, Burt, is an engineer who believes the boy should pursue another career.
The Fabelmans stars Paul Dano, Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Seth Rogan, and Judd Hirsch. It was written by Spielberg and his longtime collaborator Tony Kushner.
‘The Fabelmans’ star Paul Dano says portraying Steven Spielberg’s family was ‘overwhelming’
The Fabelmans’ versions of Spielberg’s parents, Leah and Arnold, are portrayed by Michelle Williams and Paul Dano. When talking about the film, Dano revealed how much pressure he felt playing the father of such a notable figure.
“Somebody like Steven making a film about his life and you’re playing a version of his father … the stakes felt really high,” he told Indie Wire. “You’re embodying one of the most important, influential, complicated figures in [Spielberg’s] life.”
“It was overwhelming and it was sort of a heavy cloak to bear because we were with someone who was having a big experience every day, revisiting and reworking through a part of their life,” he told the outlet in a separate red carpet chat. “For somebody like Steven to share that much of himself with us — with the audience too — it was really a profound experience.”
Paul Dano says his ‘The Fabelmans’ character has a ‘beautiful’ heart
In Dano’s last film, The Batman, he played writer/director Matt Reeves’ terrifying version of The Riddler. But his role in The Fabelmans is far different.
He acknowledges that seeing him go from psychotic Batman villain to playing a suburban dad might feel surprising to some. But for Dano, it’s all about the characters. And he revealed that he enjoyed playing Burt because of how wonderful the character is.
“[The Batman] closes a certain type of work that I’ve done, and The Fabelmans is the next chapter,” he told IndieWire. “I don’t know what people think of me, but even though the relationships are complicated in The Fabelmans, the character is beautiful.
“And I think his heart is beautiful,” he added. “And so after doing the Riddler, it was nice to go work with that part of myself that was more about being a parent and a husband.”
