What is Quentin Tarantino’s finest film? For some, it may be his breakthrough, Pulp Fiction. For others, it may be his most recent one, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Still others might say Inglourious Basterds. It’s got Jews killing Hitler, it’s got strudel, and it even ends with Brad Pitt saying, “This might be my masterpiece.” But there’s a way it might have been even better: Had it featured Adam Sandler killin’ Nazis with a baseball bat.
On a recent appearance on Bill Maher’s podcast Club Random (as caught by Variety), Tarantino confirmed a long-standing rumor that the Sandman was the original choice to play Sergeant Donny Donowitz, aka “The Bear Jew.” He’s the member of the mostly Jewish squadron who beats German soldiers to death with a club. He’s also one of the soldiers who actually guns down Adolf Hitler. He even shoots Hitler’s corpse in the face until it’s mashed potatoes. Eli Roth did a fine job playing the Bear Jew. But imagine a world where Happy Gilmore killed Hitler.
“I wrote the Bear Jew for Adam Sandler,” he recalled. “When I was doing Little Nicky, he’s telling me like, ‘Oh man, I get to f*cking beat up Nazis with a bat? F*cking script! F*cking awesome! I can’t fu*cking wait! I can’t f*cking wait!’ He was like telling every Jewish guy, ‘I’m going to f*cking play this guy who beats up Nazis with a f*cking bat.’”
Alas, it was not to be. When Tarantino finally got around to filming Basterds, it coincided with Judd Apatow’s Funny People, in which Sandler played a self-hating sorta-version of himself.
“Here’s the problem. [Judd] wrapped up all the good Jews [for Funny People],” Tarantino explained. “That was the problem. Seth Rogen and all the good Jews were doing ‘Funny People.’ I’m killing Hitler with baseball bats and there’s no good Jews available! David Krumholtz, nobody! All the good Jews were all wrapped up! I’m doing the Jewish male fantasy!”
Mind you, there were many good Jewish actors in Basterds, Roth and B.J. Novak among them. And Basterds is still one of his finest works. Still.
(Via Variety)
