Tarantino, DiCaprio, and Pitt talk Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Quentin Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD premiered at the Cannes Film Festival today and the first reactions have hailed it as a compelling masterpiece. With an all-star cast which includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, and more, it's hard to imagine expecting anything less.

Along with Tarantino, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt recently sat down for an extended interview with Esquire's Michael Hainey, who asked the two stars what pulled them into the project.

Well, first off, the chance to work with Mr. Tarantino. And certainly this time period was fascinating. It was this homage to Hollywood. I don’t think there’s been a Hollywood film like this—and by that I mean a film set in Hollywood and about Hollywood—which gets its nails dirty, getting into the everyday life of an actor and his stunt double. 1969 is a seminal time in cinema history as well as in the world. Rick and Cliff, they’re part of the old guard in Hollywood, but they’re also trying to navigate this new world of the hippie revolution and free love. I loved the idea of taking on this struggling actor who is trying to find his footing in this new world. And his pal who he’s been with through all these wars in Hollywood. Quentin so brilliantly captures what’s going on in the changing of America but also through these characters’ eyes how Hollywood was changing. It was captivating when I first read it. The characters had the imprint of Quentin’s immense knowledge of cinema history. You are in awe of the detail, and you know it’s fucking authentic. [Laughs.]

"There is an immediate comfort, stepping into Quentin’s dialogue," Pitt added. "It’s why actors want to work with him—you should have seen the line of people trying to get into this film. Offering their services, just to be a part of this thing, even just for a day." When you've got DiCaprio and Pitt as your leads, it's only natural that they would bring a little something of their own into the characters which wasn't on the page. Quentin Tarantino explained that Brad Pitt brought along a particular knowledge of actor-stuntman teams. "He immediately was like, 'Oh, this is like Steve McQueen and Bud Ekins,'" Tarantino said. "Which means, you know, Leo’s character is sort of the poor man’s McQueen."

Leonardo DiCaprio also touched upon a line featured in the recent trailer, in which Cliff looks at Rick and says, "Hey, you're Rick fucking Dalton. Don't you forget that." Turns out, that particular line was ad-libed by Pitt. "When we were doing the movie, my relationship with Brad clicked. It was very early on where he improvised a line and it changed everything," DiCaprio said. "In the scene, as it was written, I’m coming to set hungover and I am basically getting my fate handed to me, discovering what my future is going to be in this industry. And I’m really down. And in the scene, Brad ad-libs. He just comes out with this line: He looks at me and says, 'Hey, you’re Rick fucking Dalton. Don’t you forget that.'" When asked where that line came from, Pitt said that it was something which was actually said to him decades ago.

True story, this was probably early nineties. I was on set and I was whining about something and lamenting something. I was pretty low. And this guy was basically saying to me, “Get your head up, hold your head up. Quit your whining. You’re Brad fucking Pitt. I would like to be Brad fucking Pitt.” It did me a favor. I needed to hear it. That day, I flashed on that. The way Quentin’s scene was constructed, it reminded me of it.

DiCaprio and Pitt also discussed two actors connected with ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD who are no longer with us – Burt Reynolds and Luke Perry. "I’ll tell you one of the greatest moments I’ve had in these however many years we’ve been at it in this town: getting to spend two days with Burt Reynolds on this film," Pitt said. Reynolds was originally cast to play George Spahn, the man who allowed Charles Manson and his family to live on his ranch, but died before he could film his scenes. However, it seems that he did get to rehearse and take part in the script reading. "The last performance Burt Reynolds gave was when he came down and did a rehearsal day for that sequence, and then the script reading," Tarantino said. "And that was really amazing. I found out from three different people that the last thing he did just before he died was run lines with his assistant."

As for Luke Perry, he plays Scott Lancer in the film, a fellow TV actor, but DiCaprio and Pitt were nonetheless starstruck meeting him. "I remember my friend Vinny, who is in the film as well, we walked in and we both had this butterfly moment of like, 'Oh my God, that’s Luke Perry over there!'" DiCaprio remembered. Pitt added, "'That’s Luke fucking Perry!' We were like kids in the candy shop because I remember going to the studios and [Beverly Hills, 90210] was going on and he was that icon of coolness for us as teenagers. It was this strange burst of excitement that I had, to be able to act with him. Man, he was so incredibly humble and amazing and absolutely committed. He couldn’t have been a more friendly, wonderful guy to spend time with. I got to sit down and have some wonderful conversations with him. It was really special."

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD will hit theaters on July 26, 2019.