Paul Dano On The Challenge Of Playing Putin's Puppet Master In THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN

Paul Dano On The Challenge Of Playing Putin's Puppet Master In THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN

From Cinema Royale by Travis Hopson

May 15, 2026 · 5 min

About this episode

Travis Hopson interviews Paul Dano about his role in THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN, exploring themes of manipulation and chaos in post-Soviet Russia.

Travis Hopson talks with Paul Dano about his role as Vladimir Putin's puppet master in Olivier Assayas' THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN! In the chaos of post-Soviet Russia, rising KGB officer Vladimir Putin (Jude Law) joins forces with master manipulator Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano) to reshape life behind the Iron Curtain, using violence and deception to change the world forever. Putin and Baranov’s reign of chaos begins with lies and corruption, and quickly escalates to assassinations, tyranny, and eventually all-out war. THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN is in theaters now. All of this and more can be found at www.punchdrunkcritics.com! Subscribe to Punch Drunk Critics on YouTube: / @punchdrunkcritics1 Follow Punch Drunk Critics on Twitter: / pdcmovies Follow Punch Drunk Critics on Facebook: / pdcmovies You can also subscribe to our podcast Cinema Royale anywhere you get your podcasts! #PaulDano #VladimirPutin #Russia

People in this episode

Host: Travis Hopson

Guest: Paul Dano

Topics covered

  • film
  • interview
  • post-Soviet Russia
  • KGB
  • manipulation
  • political drama

Keywords

  • Paul Dano
  • Vladimir Putin
  • Vadim Baranov
  • Olivier Assayas
  • THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN
  • KGB
  • political manipulation
  • post-Soviet Russia
  • film interview

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Punch Drunk Critics, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook

Books & works: THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN

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