One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was writer-director So Young Kim‘s (In Between Days) For Ellen.  Led by a fantastic performance by Paul Dano, the film’s about a struggling musician trying to keep custody of his very young daughter even though he’s never been around.  The film also stars Jon Heder, Jena Malone, Margarita Levieva, and Shay Mandigo.

Shortly after seeing the film I got to sit down with Dano for an extended interview.  We talked about being at Sundance, how he got involved in For Ellen, what it’s about, who he plays, how much fun he had playing a “narcissistic prick,” what it’s like to be in almost every frame of the movie,  and if more people want to talk to him about The Girl Next Door, Little Miss Sunshine, or There Will Be Blood?  In addition, with Dano involved in so many other projects, we also talked about Rian Johnson‘s Looper, Being Flynn with Robert De Niro, director Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris‘ He Loves Me, and how he’s hoping to do a film called Night Moves with Meek’s Cutoff director Kelly Reichardt.  Hit the jump to watch.

Paul Dano’s career has been defined by strong performances opposite award-winning actors.  The stunning list of his high-profile onscreen pairings range from his breakthrough, Indie Spirit Award-winning turn for Best Debut Performance in 2001’s L.I.E. as the target of a pedophile, played by fellow nominee Brian Cox, to his portrayal of a nihilistic teen as part of Little Miss Sunshine’s 2007 SAG Award winning ensemble where he shared a backseat in the Hoover’s family van with Alan Arkin in the 76-year-old’s Oscar-winning performance, to his performance of a preacher and his twin (Paul and Eli Sunday) opposite eventual Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis’ unhinged oil man Daniel Plainview in Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood.

Collider caught up with the 26-year-old to discuss his latest big screen partnership in The Extra Man, which opened in Los Angeles this past weekend to continue its national rollout, opposite Kevin Kline.  Hit the jump for the interview’s transcript and audio, along with stories of his early work with several Oscar winners, Daniel Day-Lewis’ intensity, whether he’ll work on Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, his take on the Broadway musical adaptation of Little Miss Sunshine and the danger of dressing in drag, on screen.