Very few filmmakers have achieved what Quentin Tarantino has in his years in the film industry. Despite his films often igniting controversies, the filmmaker and his unique works have always remained on top of Hollywood. The man knows how to push boundaries to the perfect limits to give cinema fanatics something raw every time and Pulp Fiction was no different.
Whether it was the use of violence or the taboo topic of drugs, Pulp Fiction was not without controversy. Still, the film made waves at the box office and found a place in the audience’s hearts, establishing itself as a classic. Even legendary actor Bruce Willis couldn’t help but fall head over heels for the script as he tried everything in his power to convince Quentin Tarantino to make him a part of the film.
How Bruce Willis Got a Role in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction was absolutely star-studded thanks to actors like John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and so on. Combining the cast with the epic storyline and Quentin Tarantino’s direction, it was clearly the place to be. So how could Bruce Willis not want a piece of that cake?
During his appearance on the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast, Tarantino revealed that he bumped into Willis at a party and the actor immediately began singing praise for the filmmaker’s Reservoir Dogs.
“I’ve never met him before. And it turns out he is a HUGE fan of Reservoir Dogs. I mean, HUGE fan. He goes like, ‘If I had read Reservoir Dogs, I would have been in Reservoir Dogs, I would have agreed to do it, you know’. And he goes, ‘Oh, it’s one of my favorites, me and my buddies, we watch it all the time. We know the dialogue by heart. We do the dialogue with each other.’ Wow, that’s really amazing.”
Later, Willis requested his agent to bring him the script of Pulp Fiction and immediately saw himself in the lead character, Vincent Vega. Unfortunately for Willis, Tarantino’s sight was set on Travolta for the role and he was not going to budge. But then, the filmmaker had an idea. He asked Willis to go back and read the script with Butch Coolidge’s character in his mind and the rest is history.
“I would just ask you to read the script one more time with the idea of you playing Butch. And if you don’t respond. But I would just ask you to read it with the other characters out of your head and that character in your mind. And if you don’t respond, you don’t respond.’ And he goes, ‘Okay, I’ll do that, I can do that. I’ll do that tonight. Call me tomorrow.’ And so, he did that, and then he called me the next day. And he said, ‘Quentin. The shortest sentence in the bible is: Jesus wept. The shortest sentence in Hollywood is ‘I’m in. And I’m in.’”
This is how Willis got to be a part of one of Tarantino’s magnum opuses. However, he must also thank Matt Dillon for paving his way to Pulp Fiction.
Matt Dillon Turned Down Pulp Fiction
Even though Willis did an incredible job as Butch, the actor was not meant to play the part initially. The role was actually written for Dillon who turned the offer down because of a few reasons including his desire to play the lead role.
On the podcast, Tarantino recalled writing the character with the Wild Things actor in mind. He stated,
“So what happened was I originally wrote the part for Matt Dillon because he was a fan of my script for Reservoir Dogs… I wrote it for Matt, and it seemed like it was going to be easy getting him. But he read it, and he wasn’t so sure about it”.
As for why he didn’t say yes to the film, Tarantino added,
“Maybe he didn’t 100% get it. And he also wanted to play the Vincent character. He didn’t say no, but he didn’t say yes.”
And thus, the role went to the actor it was meant for all along – Willis. While it was certainly not the lead role he was expecting, Butch turned out to be much better than expected and is considered one of his finest works of all time. Perhaps, the reception of the film made Dillon regret his decisions.
Pulp Fiction is available to stream on Max.
