Movies - TV
How Paul Dano Got Sufjan Stevens On the Little Miss Sunshine Soundtrack
By MIYAKO PLEINES
Fans of Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton's heartwarming road trip film, "Little Miss Sunshine," about a dysfunctional family who decide to drive across the country so that their youngest child Olive Hoover can compete in a beauty pageant, will no doubt recognize Sufjan Stevens' upbeat, playful songs from the film. However, the way the singer got involved with the soundtrack was not planned.
In an interview for GQ, Paul Dano, who plays the oldest child, Dwayne, in the film, talks about how he had been listening to Stevens’ 2005 album "Illinoise," and was a fan of Stevens and his music. He explains, "I played it for Jon [Dayton] and Val [Faris], and I said I'm gonna go see him in concert."
The directors were intrigued, and Dano says, "Me and Jon and Val, and Toni Collette, and maybe some others went to see him. And then we went and hung out at, I think, the Chateau Marmont afterwards, like drinking tequila." The concert and the company seem to have inspired the husband and wife director duo to bring Stevens on board.