Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan are not your typical Hollywood couple. The duo has been building respectively diverse careers over the last 10+ years, and it’s been extraordinary to watch. While he’d made himself known in other flicks, Dano’s breakthrough came with ensemble dramedy Little Miss Sunshine and Paul Thomas Anderson‘s oil epic There Will Be Blood and he hasn’t stopped performing in interesting, top-notch projects since. Kazan similarly appeared in a slew of high-profile projects in smaller roles, but found more mainstream success after appearing as Meryl Streep’s daughter in It’s Complicated. She’s proceeded to work consistently across mediums and genres, delivering stunning performances every time. While the two certainly found initial success a while back, they’ve begun to enter career renaissances just around the same time over the last few years.
The pair first met while performing in the 2007 Ethan Hawke-directed play Things We Want, and have been together since. 2007 saw both of them starting down the road of career achievements, and their paths have been complimentary of one another as they’ve pursued different projects. The last five years have seen them both rise to the top of the industry; they were a match made in chemistry heaven in 2012’s Ruby Sparks, a fresh, thoughtful dramedy written by Kazan, and following that, their individual roles continued to stack up and speak to their talents.
Kazan soared through the delightfully crass rom-com What If opposite Daniel Radcliffe, who would later star with Dano in indie hit Swiss Army Man, she tackled sci-fi romance in the Joss Whedon-penned In Your Eyes, stole the show in supporting roles in HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge and dark comedy My Blind Brother, and took center stage in horror movie The Monster last year. Kazan will return to HBO for a role on The Deuce and upcoming Lena Dunham pilot Max, further demonstrating her wide range of abilities. Dano, perhaps equally as busy, moved us in the disturbing Prisoners, disgusted us in the necessary 12 Years a Slave, showed off his singing chops in Love and Mercy, took on classic Tolstoy in War & Peace, and carried the aforementioned Swiss Army Man on his back.
2017 is truly where their career peaks meet; Dano will next be seen in the Bong Joon Ho-directed Netflix original film Okja on June 28, joining powerhouses like Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, and more, while Kazan’s turn in upcoming rom-com The Big Sick opposite Kumail Nanjiani is already receiving rave reviews. There’s something effortlessly endearing about the both of them as a unit; while public with their affection for one another (Kazan occasionally tweets cute, funny anecdotes involving Dano), they largely express respect and admiration for one another on the record and stick to their personal lives and careers otherwise. There’s no other way to put it: Kazan and Dano are cool. Not cool in the way that makes you roll your eyes, but cool in the sense that they both seem to be genuine people with a passion for their work and each other. They aren’t another Hollywood tabloid “power couple”; they’re powerful because they aren’t here to make magazine covers. They’re here to work, and they just happen to be together. They give a whole new meaning – a fun, fresh, genuine one – to a tired phrase.
Kazan and Dano’s individually flourishing careers have demonstrated a remarkable depth of artistry in the industry, and the wide reach of the content they choose is nothing short of fascinating. This rare case of a multi-talented couple working consistently and impressively is one that’s easy to root for, and exciting to follow, and it’s not like much else that’s been seen in Hollywood. We hope that whatever they’ve got cooking next (we’ve heard they’re writing a movie together) might reunite them on screen – Ruby Sparks is too good not to give it another try.
