It goes without saying that Quentin Tarantino, who began his career as an independent filmmaker with Reservoir Dogs in 1992, has the potential to showcase untapped talent and develop enduring characters in his filmography. The filmmaker, 60, is renowned for making impeccable casting decisions that give his films a vibrant feel. Thus, one of the things that makes his movies so extraordinary is his talent for picking actors who perfectly embody his vision.
Did you know that Tarantino reportedly preferred the extraordinary Tim Roth over the enigmatic Johnny Depp for a key role in his ground-breaking movie Pulp Fiction? Despite the fact that Depp is a formidable actor, the Kill Bill: Volume 1 director chose Roth to play the role of Pumpkin (called Ringo in the script). Four intertwining tales of crime and violence in California were followed in the 1994 crime movie.
Quentin Tarantino Preferred Tim Roth over Johnny Depp in His Iconic $213.9 million film
Quentin Tarantino revealed he had previously refused to cast Johnny Depp as a potential cast member for his crime drama Pulp Fiction on the podcast 2 Bears, 1 Cave, hosted by comedian Tom Segura. The director revealed that he made a list of actors he wanted to play the main roles during the casting process for the film.
The Lie to Me actor Tim Roth was his first choice for the role of Pumpkin/Ringo, followed by Johnny Depp and Christian Slater. Tarantino responded by asking:
“Do you think Johnny Depp playing the role of Pumpkin in this movie, which is the opening scene and the closing scene, that’s it, do you think that will add that much to the box office?”
A significant critical and financial success, Pulp Fiction took home the Palme d’Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. Moreover, it received seven Academy Award nominations and won the Best Original Screenplay.
The cast received a lot of praise as well, with John Travolta, Uma Thurman, and Samuel L. Jackson receiving special mention.
Quentin Tarantino Rejected the Studio Head’s Request to Cast Johnny Depp Over Tim Roth
Quentin Tarantino responded to the viral post that featured the actors he might want to play important roles while making an appearance on the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast. The director clarified that it was not just a “wish list” of who he wanted in the movie. He even acknowledged that a studio executive wanted Johnny Depp, but he challenged them and cast Tim Roth. To quote Tarantino:
“On the internet there’s a thing floating around about my wish list of the cast of ‘Pulp Fiction. I didn’t know exactly who I wanted to play this part or that part, so I wrote a giant list with a ton of names. I wanted to get them all pre-approved and I didn’t know if it was gonna work out or if I would vibe with the person or if they would even do a good job. I just wanted to get them approved.”
In the end, Roth was cast as Pumpkin in Pulp Fiction. The actor also had a very minor role in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. However, his scene was removed from the movie because it was too long. In response to Uproxx‘s question about how he learned he would not be in the film, the Reservoir Dogs actor said:
“He [Quentin Tarantino] got me over to his editing place where he was doing his thing. And he said to me, ‘I want to show you the scenes that you were in that I’m having to remove. And he sat and he screened them for me..”
With a $8.5 million budget, Pulp Fiction became the first Miramax film to gross more than $100 million in the US and Canada; globally, it made close to $213 million. Tarantino recently directed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a 2019 comedy-drama film starring a large ensemble cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie.
Sream Pulp Fiction on Max.
