Quentin Tarantino is a unique man and most importantly a remarkable director. Also, the director is pretty meticulous about his cast. Perhaps, he panned out the entire movie on his imaginary table while writing his 1997 movie Jackie Brown.
Tarantino was dead set on casting Batman star Michael Keaton for the role of ATF Agent Ray Nicolette but Keaton was not so sure as he repeatedly reminded the director that he was not fit for the role. But its hard to get away from the clutch of Tarantino once he determines his vision.
Quentin Tarantino Tricked Michael Keaton To Star In Jackie Brown
At this point who would dare to say no to Quentin Tarantino? But in his third film, the director had to go to the extent of tricking Michael Keaton in his attempt to persuade the actor to star in Jackie Brown. Tarantino believed Keaton was perfect for the role and he would do anything to keep him in the job. “His whole process was to convince me that he’s not right for the role,” Tarantino once said. “But he never quite convinced me … Michael’s whole thing is to deny himself and to say he’s not right,” he added. But the director knew that it would take a little more to soften Keaton up, so he played his trick, as Keaton revealed:
“We go out on Sunset Boulevard (Los Angeles), Quentin has us drinking Jagermeister. Firstly, who drinks Jagermeister man? Anyway, I don’t know what happened but the next thing I’m heading home and I’m doing the movie. So I go, ‘I guess I’m doing it.’ My agent is all excited and goes, ‘Really? Why?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know, I just woke up an hour ago and I don’t remember.'”
Tarantino won, he went to the extent of making Keaton drunk to convince him as his dream cast. But later, Keaton fell in love with the character and made an appearance in an unrelated Steven Soderbergh’s film Out of Sight— nobody has done that before.
Quentin Tarantino on Casting ’70s Stars in Jackie Brown
What does Tarantino look for in actors? Well, as per his interview with Conan O’Brien on his show Late Night with Conan O’Brien, the Pulp Fiction director revealed why he was keen on bringing back the ’70s stars like Pam Grier and Robert Forster. “The thing about that though is it’s really funny. It’s because, I, people say, ‘so are you trying to like you know, bring these people back and stuff and the thing is it’s like that’s a nice benefit that happened down here,” Tarantino explained.
“The only thing about it, there was when people say that kind of stuff right it’s like it might sound like I’m trying to do a stunt by bringing these people back but it’s just the fact that it’s like I’m not really trying to bring anybody back. Necessarily I’m just trying to catch the best actress for the ride and the thing is, unfortunately, what happens a lot in Hollywood especially want to come to like studio films is they kind of got that list. And I’m not talking about even like the stars like the Harrison Ford and you know, whoever but it’s like even for the character actors, this show you have, the same actors that keep showing up in every movie for the next five years and after five years some of them fall off and other people join it- my list is really long.”
Further, the director added that he has “a good memory and Robert Forster is on that list and a lot of people are on that list.” Also, the director insisted on favoring good actors, “you only have to be a good actor to be on that list, you don’t have to be hot,” he added. Tarantino may not admit it but many considered the fact that he had rescued the career of these ’70s stars.
Also read: Quentin Tarantino: Ranking his Top 10 Unforgettable Films
Source: YouTube.
