Yahoo Movies Paul Dano opens up about playing a giant spider in Netflix’s Spaceman
Paul Dano has revealed what it was like playing a giant spider in the Netflix movie Spaceman (via GamesRadar+).
Dano voices a giant alien spider named Hanuš in the adaptation of Jaroslav Kalfař's book Spaceman of Bohemia.
Starring alongside Adam Sandler, who plays astronaut Jakub, Dano reveals he was invested from the first pitch.
Related: Spaceman ending explained - is the spider Hanuš real?
"I loved the idea and then I loved the execution of it, too," he said. "Just, you know, Adam Sandler alone on a spaceship talking to a giant spider, already you want to see it or want to read it."
In the movie, Hanuš and Jakub form a connection as the only two beings at the edge of the galaxy, sharing meditations on life, death, and love. "I sort of loved that he was like this death doula, a spirit guide, Zen-like sort of guy who's lived through all this time and all these galaxies.
"I like that the film was about the mystery in ourselves, and I feel very much that science fiction allows for that thing: you're out here in space, but really you're alone on the inside," Dano added.
Related: First trailer for Adam Sandler's Netflix movie Spaceman
No stranger to menacing or creepy roles, Dano is known for immersing himself in his characters' histories, most notably when he played the Riddler in The Batman. However, he used a different approach when playing Hanuš, claiming he "took everything that's in there at complete face value".
"I remember [Spaceman director Johan Renck] asking me when we first met, 'Do you think Hanuš is real?' And I was like, 'Well, of course'. I don't think there's a way to play somebody who's not real.
"I actually really liked what was there in terms of his little backstory, which is that his civilization has been lost and that he's been traveling for thousands of years and that he himself has headed back towards the beginning."
Dano added: "I really felt like, 'I don't know that I'd want to go back to the beginning alone,' and I think that he discovers some human feeling called love through Jakub. Each character is a little different, each piece is a little different and I think you have to follow what that thing is asking you for what is leading you towards it, but yeah, generally you want to build a little life."
Spaceman is available to watch now on Netflix.
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