Paul Dano can't wait to get away. Sitting at an outdoor café in Manhattan's Alphabet City, he pokes at his bacon-and-eggs lunch while meticulously outlining his summer vacation. "I'm going to Europe with a couple of friends," he says, excited. "We're going to Belgium first, then stopping in Amsterdam, of course. I have a friend in Copenhagen, and then it's Prague. We're trying to get to Italy, but I don't know how we'll do it all...maybe we'll run out of money." Considering how he's nurtured a promising acting career while studying literature at the New School, a university in New York City, Dano shouldn't expect to be cash-strapped for long.

The 22-year-old has amassed a striking resumé, avoiding the teen soap dramas that are popular among his peers. After appearing in several Broadway shows as a teenager, the Connecticut native made his film debut in the indie drama L.I.E. (2001), playing a troubled youth who befriends a pedophile. Dano has since acted alongside Academy Award winners Kevin Kline (The Emperor's Club, 2002) and Daniel Day-Lewis (The Ballad of Jack and Rose, 2005). His newest project is this summer's Little Miss Sunshine, a dysfunctional-family comedy-drama that, after lingering in development hell for nearly two years, wowed audiences at Sundance.

 

"Maybe they didn't know how to market a movie where the grandpa is snorting heroin," Dano says. As the nephew of a suicidal academic (Steve Carell), Dano steals scenes even though his character has taken a vow of silence. "I tried not to talk around my family, which was impossible,"he says.

In real life, Dano is like most liberal arts college kids-outspoken and confident, whether discussing World War II propaganda films or Nas and the Smashing Pumpkins. But the young actor is humble when talking about forthcoming projects with directors Richard Linklater (Fast Food Nation) and Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are). "I'm so lucky," he says. "It sounds corny, but you learn a lot from these people." If only they could contribute to his vacation fund.
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