Nicholas Braun has always been a goofy guy, no matter how many times he will try to rebrand himself as a businessman or a Disgusting Brother. But that’s all part of the charm!
In typical goof fashion, Braun opened up about an embarrassing plane encounter with none other than Quentin Tarantino, all the way back in 2008 (after Death Proof, but before Inglourious Basterds, peak Tarantino). Braun had just wrapped up his stint on a Disney Channel Original Movie (after Sky High, but before Minutemen, post-peak DCOM) when he ran into the director and decided to shoot his shot. A picture of Braun at the time will help sell this story.
While on Jimmy Kimmel Live! The Succession actor recalled the story of when he saw the director in first class. “I’m walking through first class. I see him, ‘Holy s**t, Quentin Tarantino.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my god, there he is.’ And I had just done this Disney Channel Original Movie, DCOMs, anybody? And so this [2008] DCOM was called Minutemen and so it had just come out and there was an ad for it on the back of a Tiger Beat magazine,” Braun said, before joking, “They’re probably canceled by now or something for taking pictures of young boys.” For the record, Tiger Beat was up and running until 2021, which is impressive in this current media landscape.
The actor then shared that he brought the ad over to show Tarantino, who was probably just about settling in for his flight nap. “I got to my seat and I was like, ‘The Minutemen ad!’ And I tore it off the back of the Tiger Beat and I pushed past all the people that were coming further into the plane, which everybody hates that. Nobody likes the person going the opposite,” he said. He’s right, so he shouldn’t have expected Tarantino of all people to be on board, but hey, he was living large after that Disney Channel check (that probably went to his parents).
Braun continued:
And so I get up to first class and I look at him and he’s sitting on the window side so I sort of have to reach over a person and say, ‘Quentin, Quentin, I’m in this DCOM called Minutemen and it just came out and here’s the ad. ‘That’s me!‘ And the ad is three guys in snowsuits flying through time because they created a time travel machine. And so they want to go from dorks to heroes, ‘zero to hero’ was the logline. So I’m like, ‘Quentin, that’s me in this movie and I really hope to work with you someday. I think you’re the best. That’s all I got.’ And he looked at it, like it was a torn piece of paper, and he was like, ‘I hope so too.’
So has Tarantino reached out to Braun to play some sort of cult leader and/or action star? Not yet… but there is still time! Braun’s schedule should free up soon, thanks to the end of Succession. At least until Cousin Greg gets his survivalist spinoff, anyway.
On the other hand, his fictional uncle, Brian Cox, famously hates Tarantino and wrote about walking out of a showing of Pulp Fiction in his memoir. Would adding Braun to Tarantino’s extended universe finally get Cox on board? Honestly… probably not. You can check out the clip. below:
A young Nicholas Braun shot his shot with Quentin Tarantino…😂😬 pic.twitter.com/5aKV99uDSF
— Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) March 29, 2023