NYT's Blind Item. (Updated)

The Times' profile of Daniel Day-Lewis has this weird graf:

Halfway through the 60-day shoot, [Paul Thomas] Anderson realized that the second lead actor, who plays Plainview’s nemesis, was not strong enough. He was replaced by the versatile young actor Paul Dano, but three weeks of scenes with Day-Lewis needed to be reshot. During “Gangs of New York,” Day-Lewis would stay in character and deliberately glare at his co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio, mirroring the contentious dynamic that these men had in the film. While DiCaprio withstood the pressure (and Dano thrived on it) there are reports that the first actor suffered from intimidation. “It just wasn’t the right fit,” Anderson explained diplomatically.

Please help me, people. Whom did Paul Dano replace? I've come up with nothing.

...Thanks, McE! With all the usual caveats about reliability:

don't remember if this has been discussed or how reputable the source is (imdb boards) but it would've been news 6 months ago. apparently Paul Dano was hired to play Eli after another actor...

The original Eli actor was Kel O'Neill (XX/XY). Scuttlebutt on the set this week was that he demanded higher pay and got canned in the ensuing battle of wills. [Dec. '06]

There's a story there -- and a good one. Surely I'm not the only one who wants to know why Paul Thomas Anderson deep-six'd an actor (and who the young man might be)? Maybe the Times doesn't give a shit, but they're probably in the minority.