way, the closer we got, the more contact with Arnold there was, too.” But neither Dano nor Spielberg aimed to recreate an exact replica of Arnold. The father weighed more than Dano, for example, but Spielberg did not want him to put on weight. “I’m trying to let Burt lead the way,” Dano explained, “And so here I am, somebody in their late thirties looking at a [at the time] 74-year-old, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and trying to main- tain some energy of his father; not maintain, just let it exist. How do I capture a life lived? How can I make au- diences see and feel that life and person outside of the frame? But it’s important that it’s called The Fabelmans , so that the audience can meet it somewhere in between. If it was called the Spielbergs, I think it would divorce the audience from being a part of that family, bringing their own family to the table.” Spielberg gives Mitzi and Sammy scenes to express their thoughts and feelings in private, but Burt’s remain off-screen. Through the mag- ic of Dano’s performance, though, his character seems to have an inner monologue that continues to develop whether or not he’s in the scene, and which is felt upon his return. “I told Steven on our last night of filming that it would take me a few years yet to fully process that he asked me to play his father,” Dano admits. “There were times when I found it a heavy cloak to bear. I tried to give everything I had to it. But sometimes a really spe- cial experience needs a moment afterward. Also, I have a family, my wife works, and I have kids, so I can’t just be doing 12-hour production days all the time. It just wouldn’t serve them the best.” I ask Dano if he had made any inspiring film discoveries during his downtime, but downtime doesn’t seem to exist in baby town. He does mention inspiring discoveries elsewhere, though, in oth- er mediums. “This year was really about writing this [ The
Riddler: Year One ] comic for me; I did have a really wonderful time being a super dork about that medium. So reading a lot of comic books and graphic novels and detective fiction. That’s what I like about my job, that sometimes you center yourself around a little universe and learn about it.This fall, I just got a film called Dumb Money that’s about the GameStop, Robinhood, Wall Street thing. And that’s a world that I didn’t know a whole lot about. Now I’m still reading about the stuff that I found interesting.” Despite The Fabelmans ’ anchoring in the enclosed yet expansive world of the cinema, it’s not until we’re nearing our conversation’s end that Dano shares on one of his recent movie theater experiences—seeing Burt and family for the first time with an audience during its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. “I will say that it is debilitatingly horrendous to watch yourself,” he says. “But I always have to see the film to get some closure, partially to see all the contributions of the people I worked with. It’s nice to be reminded that it’s more fun to laugh with other people laughing than alone on your couch. And Steven is not only one of the great filmmakers, period, but one of the great movie makers who makes movies for an audience. Whether it’s about dinosaurs, aliens, or whatever, there’s a sense of wonder that he captures—and I think he does that in this film through the Super 8mm camera.”
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