It goes without saying that anyone in the entertainment industry would love to have a chance to work with one of the most renowned filmmakers of today – Quentin Tarantino. Quentin Tarantino has time and again blessed Hollywood with his insane direction on movies like Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, and so on.
So why is it that The Lord of the Rings actor, Viggo Mortensen, passed on an opportunity to work with Quentin Tarantino after the filmmaker wanted him in The Hateful Eight? Well, as it turns out, due to scheduling conflicts, Viggo Mortensen had to say no to the film which made $156 million at the box office. The role then went to Channing Tatum instead.
Why Viggo Mortensen Refused to Work with Quentin Tarantino
In an interview with Grantland, Viggo Mortensen was asked about the rumors of him being a part of the 2015 film, The Hateful Eight. Mortensen stated that while the rumors were true and he met with Quentin Tarantino for the same, scheduling conflicts didn’t let him go through with the film
“Yeah, we did meet. And that was an example of what I was talking about with small movies. All of last fall, I traveled nonstop. I was on a plane every two days to promote Jauja and Far From Men. I knew as a producer and an actor that I needed to do that for those movies to have a chance to be seen. [Tarantino] wanted to start shooting at the end of the year and do rehearsals before that, and I just couldn’t do that schedule wise.”
Mortensen added that it would’ve been “really, really fun to work with” Tarantino and that he thought the director was absolutely “smart and funny.” The actor then recalled the time he auditioned for one of Tarantino’s older films, Reservoir Dogs (1992).
“I did audition for Reservoir Dogs, which he remembered. I don’t know which one it was. It was one of them. I might have auditioned for two. I had fun. I did one take where I made the character Hispanic.”
Well, after Tarantino turned down Mortensen and the latter turned down the former, the story sure came full circle, didn’t it? To this date, the two have never been able to be a part of the same project.
Viggo Mortensen’s Role Went to Channing Tatum
After Mortensen passed on the role, it went to Channing Tatum, although, it wasn’t easy for the Magic Mike actor to bag the role. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Tatum recalled how he sent out emails consistently for a month in order to get the role of Jody.
“I basically sent about an email a day for about a month just threatening any other actors that might be up for the role. I was just praying that no one really tough was up for the role.”
While Tatum took an unusual approach to the whole situation, it surely worked in his favor as Tarantino seemed to have gotten impressed by his daring nature.
The Hateful Eight is available on Netflix.
Source: Grantland
