After dominating the Sundance Film Festival with Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino quickly got to work onto his next project, and arguably, the film that truly put him on the map: Pulp Fiction. While the film would end up having a jam-packed cast full of A-list talent, Tarantino recently revealed that he was very particular about the casting and was willing to go to war with the studio despite being a relatively unknown filmmaker at the time.
During a recent appearance on the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast, Tarantino recalled a battle with one executive who was adamant about casting Johnny Depp in Pulp Fiction. According to Tarantino, the exec wanted Depp in the role of Pumpkin, the diner bandit who would share a memorable scene with Samuel L. Jackson to cap off the film.
As Tarantino tells it, Tim Roth was always his first choice followed by Christian Slater as a backup. However, the studio exec wanted to go straight to Depp, and Tarantino wasn’t having it. Via NME:
The director went on to reveal that when he put forward his names, the studio questioned why he wanted Roth over Depp for the role, and would not offer Roth the role until others had turned it down.
In response, Tarantino asked them: “‘Do you think Johnny Depp playing the role of Pumpkin in this movie, which is the opening scene and the closing scene that’s it, do you think that will add that much to the box office?’”
Obviously, Tarantino got his way. The role of Pumpkin went to Roth, and Pulp Fiction went on to rack up a laundry list of Oscar noms including Best Picture and Best Director, so it sure seems like this Quentin guy knows what he’s doing.
(Via NME)
