Just one day after a slew of famous names joined Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, one of the most famous names of them all has been confirmed as an addition to the cast. Al Pacino will be the latest star of the ’70s to join Tarantino, following in the footsteps of David Carradine, Bruce Dern, and his Heat co-star Robert DeNiro. Pacino will be sharing the spotlight with a major cast, including Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, but his presence also represents Tarantino expanding his influence by having both Pacino and Burt Reynolds stealing attention in these twilight roles.
Pacino has been busy lately, most recently starring as Joe Paterno in the HBO biopic about the late Penn State coach and teaming with DeNiro in the upcoming Scorsese film The Irishman. He’ll take a step back from controversy and mob-related roles for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, playing close with DiCaprio according to Variety:
Pacino will play Marvin Shwarz — Leonardo DiCaprio’s character’s agent in the Sony film — marking his first collaboration with Tarantino. Dating back to his first feature film, 1992’s “Reservoir Dogs,” Tarantino has always cast movie stars he grew up watching, from Robert Forster in “Jackie Brown” to David Carradine in the “Kill Bill” films. Pacino fits that mold of A-list actors who rose to fame in the 1970s.
If this is truly Tarantino’s final film, he’s not holding back in terms of dream casting. Even if these are smaller parts or cameos, you can deny the star power that will help the director tell his story. We don’t even have Charles Manson yet unless that’s who Timothy Olyphant wants to play.
No matter what, it is clear all of the stops have been pulled. It is also clear that we might get a moment that rivals this one in Pacino’s career:
