The only actors who turned Quentin Tarantino down twice: “That’s not going to work”
Many consider Quentin Tarantino one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. After spending a large part of his life working in a movie rental store and constantly watching every film he could, he developed a knowledge of movies unlike any other budding writer and director on the scene.
After this period, his catalogue speaks for itself. From his debut film, Reservoir Dogs, to his most recent offering on, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, it seems that Tarantino is incapable of making a bad picture. His films are equal parts action-packed, beautiful and enticing. Every line of dialogue spoken is so much so that you hang onto every word.
Tarantino isn’t just capable of making good movies; he also brings the best out of the actors he works with. He seems to have a knack for figuring out what his actors are capable of and then extracting those qualities from them in the best possible ways. There is a reason why people like Samuel L. Jackson and Steve Buscemi like to keep working with him: there is a unity there that is hard to come by in Hollywood.
You would struggle to find many actors who weren’t interested in working with Quentin Tarantino. It’s a great opportunity, and it is almost certain that you will be starring in one of the greatest movies to come out that year. That being said, there are some actors who have turned down the chance to work with him, not once, but twice.
One of the first actors to turn Tarantino down two times is Rocky superstar Sylvester Stallone. A decade apart, Stallone was offered two different roles, both of which were good opportunities, but he seemingly had no interest in them.
“Yeah, two,” said Stallone when asked about the opportunities Tarantino had thrown his way, “The De Niro part in Jackie Brown. And Grindhouse, the part Kurt Russell did.” Stallone had no interest in playing Kurt Russell’s part in Death Proof because of that character’s violent and unhinged nature. “I said, ‘There’s no way. I have two daughters, and this fellow, his hobby is putting teenagers in his car and smashing them into a wall’. That’s not going to work.”
Mickey Rourke also missed out on working with Tarantino on two different occasions. The first was for Pulp Fiction, as the idea of having to audition for a role was too much for his ego to take. “Quentin Tarantino called once, I think it was for Pulp Fiction, the part Bruce Willis played,” he said. “I didn’t even read the script. I allowed myself to get proud and angry because I could do the acting. I thought I’d have to be dead not to fucking work.”
It seems Quentin Tarantino was struggling with who to cast for the main part in Death Proof, as it wasn’t just Sylvester Stallone who turned the part down, but Mickey Rourke. “My first choice was Mickey Rourke,” admitted Tarantino when discussing the role. He said that the actor’s representation “Started fucking with us,” so he decided not to bother trying to get him on board with the project.
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