Dano appeared in three feature films in 2012: "Ruby Sparks", as a writer whose fictional character (played by Zoe Kazan, the film's writer and Dano's girlfriend) inexplicably appears as a real person; time-travel thriller "Looper", in a supporting role with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis; and with Robert De Niro in "Being Flynn" as the film's writer Nick Flynn, about his relationship with his father. In 2013, Dano appeared in Steve McQueen’s period drama biopic "12 Years a Slave", based on the memoirs of Solomon Northup. Dano portrayed John Tibeats, an overseer at the plantation Northup is sold to. The film was a massive critical success and won the Academy Award for Best Picture, among numerous other awards.