Quentin Tarantino picks his “favourite actor” of all time
Quentin Tarantino sits among the Hollywood elite, and very few modern directors can generate as much interest in their every move. The director is responsible for creating iconic masterpieces such as Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, changing the course of the cinematic landscape forever.
A significant figure in the world of arthouse action, Tarantino’s stylisations of cinematic violence have been celebrated as piercing reflections of modernity. He’s a director who exists in his own lane, and despite inspiring countless filmmakers over the last three decades, Tarantino continues to occupy a unique space.
Tarantino has always maintained that he will only make ten movies before moving on to pastures. According to him, directors often continue past their prime, which inevitably tarnishes their legacy, and he wants to avoid that mistake by taking a step back while he is at the top of his game.
While Tarantino’s final project will no longer be The Movie Critic, as initially envisaged, many actors have expressed their interest in working with him before he retires. Whatever comes next for the director, there’ll be no shortage of suitors who want to star in the movie, and Tarantino won’t need to settle for second in class.
Like all directors, Tarantino has his own set of favourites regarding actors, and he has often championed them during the casting of new projects.
On previous occasions, Tarantino claimed that Nicolas Cage, Sean Penn, and Chris Pine were some of the greatest talents in the world. However, one name sits in a league of its own. During an interview with Charlie Rose in 1997, Tarantino declared that he believes Robert De Niro is “the best actor in the world”.
Despite those statements, his favourite is a longtime collaborator who has been working with Tarantino since the beginning.
While talking about Reservoir Dogs at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, Tarantino revealed: “The only person who was pre-cast in the movie was Harvey Keitel. As I told you, we never dreamed we’d be able to get Harvey. Understand, he’s my favourite actor in the world. I don’t mean because I worked with him and he’s a nice guy, and I’ve seen [myself] what he’s capable of.”
When Tarantino was initially planning Reservoir Dogs, he originally thought he would shoot it with his friends. However, his small-scale plans were derailed when the script somehow reached Keitel, who liked it so much that he signed onto the project as a co-producer. The rest of the ensemble cast would soon follow, creating an unforgettable piece of film history.
“I mean I was fifteen years old and I saw him in Taxi Driver and The Duellist,” the director added while praising Keitel. “I’ve seen Harvey’s performance as the terrorist in [James Toback’s] Exposed. Oh, he’s wonderful in that. He gives such a wonderful speech about terrorism that he completely convinces you.”
The duo bonded on the set of Reservoir Dogs, sparking an iconic cinematic partnership that dramatically changed the fortunes of their respective careers. Keitel also appeared in Pulp Fiction and Inglorious Basterds.
During a 30th anniversary celebration of Pulp Fiction in Los Angeles in 2024, Keitel said of Tarantino: “Quentin is one of those talents that changed the environment that we were working in with his huge talent. His aesthetic force was so powerful that it had the power to change your direction, and we’re all here tonight for the same reason: we respect the art and the artist. God knows our country needs it now because of what’s going on in it.”
While Tarantino has worked with a series of the most illustrious names in modern Hollywood history, Keitel understands him on a level that can’t compete with any other actor, making him the director’s favourite.
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