Ethan Hawke is defending actor Paul Dano after Quentin Tarantino absolutely trashed PD’s acting … finding the silver lining for his unjustly maligned pal!

Check it out … on Thursday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the “Blue Moon” star reacted to Quentin’s out-of-nowhere sharp criticism of Dano — telling host Joe Rogan Paul probably didn’t realize just how many people love his work.

ICYMI … last week, Tarantino trashed Dano‘s work, saying the 2007 flick “There Will Be Blood” would have been great without one “big giant flaw” — Dano’s portrayal of the character Eli Sunday.

On Rogan’s podcast, Ethan reasons further … “Anybody that knows Quentin knows he just talks, talks, talks, talks, talk, talks, talks,” while “anybody that knows Paul knows he’s a great, world-class human being.”

And if it helps … Paul wasn’t the only one Quentin decided to publicly rip on — he also said he doesn’t “care” for Matthew Lillard and “can’t stand” Owen Wilson as an actor.

Scott Weiland‘s son is posting some worrying messages to Instagram … claiming he’d rather be dead than live his life as his father did.

Noah Weiland posted to his Instagram story Thursday afternoon … sharing a text post written on a blurry gray background which begins, “I’d rather be DEAD” — a pretty drastic statement, though he tries to qualify it by explaining he’d rather be dead than live as his dad did.

He goes on, “Regardless of all this, it’s been a long journey. Can’t wait to see him again & thank you for all your support along the way. Won’t ever forget this.”

As you may know … Scott was found dead on a tour bus in Minnesota in 2015. Authorities later determined he died from an overdose of cocaine, MDMA — a type of old school Ecstasy — and alcohol.

Noah was just a teenager when Scott passed away … and he’s dealt with similar demons as his father. He was kicked out of the band, Suspect208, due to drug use. Weiland told iHeartRadio the ousting from the group exacerbated his drug problem.

We’ve reached out to Noah about his post … so far, no word back.

Two people are missing after an explosion in the San Francisco area … and a doorbell camera captured the moment of the scary blast.

The incident took place in Hayward, California Thursday afternoon — a city about 18 miles south of Oakland — on what seems like an otherwise normal afternoon in the clip.

The camera’s set up across the street from a house, which appears to have a construction crew working on it … and the explosion happens suddenly … with debris flying into the air and a massive fireball mushrooming into existence.

According to the New York Times … the explosion appeared to lead to the complete and total destruction of one house … as well as a massive fire which ripped through the neighborhood.

Ryan Nishimoto — the deputy chief of operations for the Alameda County Fire Department — told NYT, 75 emergency personnel responded to the scene to extinguish the fire. It’s unclear what exactly caused the blaze.