- Steve Buscemi, Reservoir Dogs, 1991.
- Robert Downey Jr, Natural Born Killers, 1993. Quentin always intended to play the vile TV news anchorWayneGayle if and when the script ever got picked up. By the time it was – NBK going to JFK director Oliver Stone – Tarantino was too important to mess around with a role in another’s version of one of his earliestscenarios.
- Eric Stoltz, Pulp Fiction, 1994. Who should he play? Jimmie or Lance? Had to be Jimmie so that Quentincould be behind the camera, calling the shots forMia’s overdose being dealt with by Lance.
- Stan Lee, Mallrats, 1995. QT was all set to be Marvel’s Stan The Man for auteur pal Kevin Smith. Until Stan decided he’d be a far better Stan.
- Danny Trejo, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, 2003. Director pal Robert Rodriguez wrote Cucuy for his pal (he had suggested the title, after all) but Tarantinowas delayed on the everlasting Kill Bill.
- Dan Castellaneta, The Simpsons #166: Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious, TV, 1997. Since its 1989 birth, the yellowtoon family Simpson smashed records for episodes, audiences, and the most guest stars (as themselves or others). From Buzz Aldrin, Glenn Close (Homer’s Ma), Dennis Franz (Evil Homer!), George Harrison, Stephen Hawking, Dustin Hoffman, Bob Hope, Eric Idle to Paul and Linda McCartney, Conan O’Brien (a Simpsonswriter made good), Michelle Pfeiffer, Mickey Rooney, Ringo Starr, Meryl Streep plus Barry (and Betty) White! Not all celebs played ball… Julie Andrews was an obvious early choice, given the title, but Tarantino…? He found his dialogue too… insulting! Instead, regular Dan Castellaneta did the voice. Az iudf he wsnblt busy enough with Grampa and Homer Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Captain Lance Murdock, Pooc hie, Gil Gundrson, Rabbi Krustofski, etc, etc.
- Gordon Liu (Chia Hui Liu), Kill Bill Vol 2, 2003. Quentin considered playing kung fu master Pei Mei when his action-choreographer Woo-ping Yuen could not. In all, Liu had three roles in the Bill kills. By the way, “Cute” (QT!) has made it official. “I’m not an American filmmaker. I make movies for the planet Earth.”
- Rick Hoffman, Hostel, 2005. Director pal Eli Roth considered QT for the US Client but thenfigured that having both QT and Takashi Miike visit the torture house would going too far. For his war spoof, Inglourious Basterds, 2008, Tarantino made Roth into a crazed killer of Nazis.
- Eric Balfour, Hell Ride, 2008. Mr Brown loved The Savage Seven, 1967, and told the star, Larry Bishop, that he was destined to make the best ever biker movie – Larry directing, QT producing. Roger Ebert simply said: “Shame on him.” Yeah Rog, but he thought better of being in it – splitting to play Ringo in Takashi Miike’s sukiyaki Western, Django,based on guys created by one of his idols, Sergio Corbucci. Josh Hartnett also passed on Comanche. And for some reason (!), QT has never hired the woefully under-used Balfour.
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kill Shot, 2008. Rather than direct a second Elmore Leropnard pulp, Tarantino agreed in 2002 to simply act – alongside his Jackie Brown star, Robert De Niro. For UK director Tony Scott, who had, bien sur, made Tarantino’s script of True Romance, 1993. Gordon-Levitt, from 3rd Rock From The Sun, TV, 1996-2001, is the grandson of blacklisted Hollywood director Michael Gordon.
- Fred Armisen, The Smurfs, 2010. QT was a favourite to voice Brainy Smurf in the first of a planned trilogy about the Belgian blue dwarfs. However, as the Sony Pictures Animation chief, Hannah Minghella (daughter of director Anthony Minghella), commented: “There were conversations about it, but it didn’t work out.”
- Johnny Depp, Tusk, 2013. Kevin Smith tells all. “Since Quentin likes to act (and since he had dug Red State), I figured I’d ask him to join me on the cinematic walrus hunt [as] the relentless French-Canadian cop on the trail of a monster-maker I wanted Quentin to play the relentless French Canadian cop on the trail of a monster-maker… and speak like Les Habitants! I’d heard him do an Australian accent in Django Unchained, so I was hoping he might want to ham it up as a Quebecois as well. Then, the weirdest thing happened: Quentin passed … he dug the script and couldn’t wait to watch Michael Parks let loose his internal Kraken, but he had no interest in acting at the moment. It was a bummer, as having Q in the mix would’ve been poetic. Without him, I would need someone equally genius to play Guy Lapointe – our French-Canadian Javert.”
- Paul Schrader,Dog Eat Dog, 2016. The crooks are so dumb, this is kinda Carry On Tarantino. But the director, Paul Schrader, said: “The film is as much about crime films as it is about criminals. There’s kind of a meta quality to it.” Just not enough to interest Michael Douglas, Rupert Everett, Jeff Goldblum, Nick Nolte, Christopher Walken, Michael Wincott in playing a mobster called The Greek. Schrader also asked fellow directors – but Italian Americans! – Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. Then, Nic Cage persuaded his director to go Greek, himself.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Usual occupation: Film director Casting Calls: 13