70 Fun Facts About Quentin Tarantino

In which city was Quentin Tarantino born in 1963?

Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 27, 1963; his mother moved with him to the Los Angeles area in 1966, and he grew up in the South Bay.

Tarantino was named in part after Quint Asper, a character played by Burt Reynolds in which TV Western?

Quint Asper was the half-Comanche blacksmith Burt Reynolds played on Gunsmoke from 1962 to 1965; Tarantino's mother Connie was a fan of the character.

Tarantino spent five years working at the Video Archives store in which California city?

Video Archives was a rental shop in Manhattan Beach, California, where Tarantino clerked for about five years in the 1980s; he liked to say that instead of film school, 'I went to films'.

As a 15-year-old, Tarantino was grounded for shoplifting a novel by which author from a Kmart?

At 15 Tarantino was caught shoplifting Elmore Leonard's 1978 novel The Switch from a Kmart; nearly two decades later he adapted another Leonard crime novel as Jackie Brown.

In 1988 Tarantino played an Elvis impersonator on an episode of which sitcom?

In the 1988 episode 'Sophia's Wedding', Tarantino was one of a troupe of Elvis impersonators on The Golden Girls; he said the rerun residuals helped support him while he prepared Reservoir Dogs.

Tarantino's first Hollywood job in 1986 was on an exercise video fronted by which action star?

Tarantino's first industry job, in 1986, was as a production assistant on Maximum Potential, a workout video fronted by Dolph Lundgren.

What was the title of the low-budget 1987 film Tarantino co-wrote and directed before Reservoir Dogs?

My Best Friend's Birthday, co-written with Craig Hamann and shot in black and white on a tiny budget, was never completed; only about 36 minutes of footage survive.

Which of Tarantino's scripts was sold to finance Reservoir Dogs and directed by Tony Scott in 1993?

True Romance was sold for about $50,000, money Tarantino meant to put toward Reservoir Dogs; Tony Scott straightened out its non-linear timeline and changed the ending so Clarence and Alabama survive.

Which director's rewrite of Natural Born Killers left Tarantino with only a story credit?

Oliver Stone directed Natural Born Killers (1994) after heavily rewriting Tarantino's script; Tarantino disowned the film and took only a 'story by' credit.

Reservoir Dogs' title reportedly came from a customer mishearing Tarantino recommend which French film?

The story goes that a Video Archives customer mangled Tarantino's recommendation of Louis Malle's Au revoir les enfants into 'reservoir dogs'; he also liked that the phrase sounded like a Jean-Pierre Melville title.

Which colour-coded alias does Tarantino himself play in Reservoir Dogs?

Tarantino cast himself as Mr. Brown, the crook who delivers the opening 'Like a Virgin' monologue; he had originally planned to shoot the film for about $30,000 with friends before Harvey Keitel came aboard.

Which 1970s song plays as Mr. Blonde tortures the captured cop in Reservoir Dogs?

Stealers Wheel's 1973 hit 'Stuck in the Middle with You' plays from K-Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies as Mr. Blonde dances around and slices off the cop's ear.

Reservoir Dogs was accused of borrowing heavily from City on Fire, a 1987 heist film from which country?

City on Fire is a 1987 Hong Kong crime thriller directed by Ringo Lam; its undercover-cop plot and climactic Mexican standoff prefigure Reservoir Dogs, and Tarantino has acknowledged the influence.

At which festival did Reservoir Dogs premiere in January 1992?

Reservoir Dogs premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in January 1992, after Tarantino had workshopped scenes at the Sundance Institute's directors' lab the previous summer.

Which prize did Pulp Fiction win at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival?

Pulp Fiction took the Palme d'Or at Cannes in May 1994 from a jury chaired by Clint Eastwood; it went on to win Tarantino his first Academy Award, for Best Original Screenplay.

With whom did Tarantino share the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Pulp Fiction?

Roger Avary shared the 1995 Best Original Screenplay Oscar with Tarantino; the two had met working the counter at Video Archives, and the Butch storyline grew out of an Avary script.

Which character does Tarantino play in Pulp Fiction?

Tarantino plays Jimmie, Jules's friend in Toluca Lake whose house is where the Marvin mess gets cleaned up in 'The Bonnie Situation' before his wife Bonnie comes home from her shift.

Tarantino's admiration for which 1981 Brian De Palma film led him to cast John Travolta in Pulp Fiction?

Blow Out (1981) stars Travolta as a sound man who records a political assassination; Tarantino, who ranks it among his favourite films, cast the then-faded star as Vincent Vega, earning Travolta a Best Actor nomination.

Jackie Brown is an adaptation of which 1992 crime novel?

Rum Punch, a 1992 crime novel, gave Tarantino the plot of Jackie Brown (1997); he renamed heroine Jackie Burke, cast a Black actress in the role, and moved the story from Florida to Los Angeles' South Bay.

Jackie Brown pays homage to Coffy and Foxy Brown, both of which starred which actress?

Pam Grier, the star of Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974), plays Jackie; her opening walk through the airport to Bobby Womack's 'Across 110th Street' is another blaxploitation borrowing.

Which Jackie Brown actor earned an Academy Award nomination for playing bail bondsman Max Cherry?

Robert Forster's turn as bail bondsman Max Cherry earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 1998 Oscars; the part revived a career that had drifted into B-movies since the 1970s.

How much was Tarantino paid for From Dusk till Dawn, his first paid writing assignment?

Robert Kurtzman of effects house KNB paid Tarantino $1,500 around 1990 to write From Dusk till Dawn from Kurtzman's story, on the understanding that KNB would do the makeup effects on Reservoir Dogs.

In From Dusk till Dawn, Tarantino plays the deranged brother of a bank robber played by whom?

George Clooney plays Seth Gecko, with Tarantino as his deranged brother Richie; the pair end up trapped in a Mexican border strip club that turns out to be full of vampires.

Tarantino directed the final segment of which 1995 anthology film with Rodriguez, Anders and Rockwell?

Four Rooms follows bellhop Ted (Tim Roth) through four hotel suites on New Year's Eve; Tarantino's closing segment, 'The Man from Hollywood', riffs on an Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode about a bet over a cigarette lighter.

Roughly how long was the Kill Bill cut that persuaded the studio to split it into two volumes?

Over four hours long in its first assembly, Kill Bill was split into two volumes at Miramax's suggestion, announced in July 2003; Volume 1 arrived that October and Volume 2 in April 2004.

For which actor did Tarantino originally write Bill in Kill Bill, before David Carradine?

Warren Beatty was Tarantino's first choice for Bill and was attached for a time; as the role grew to demand more screen time and martial-arts training, Beatty departed and Kung Fu star David Carradine took over.

In Kill Bill, the Bride travels to Okinawa to obtain a sword from which legendary swordsmith?

Hattori Hanzō, played by Sonny Chiba, is the retired Okinawa swordsmith who forges the Bride's blade; the name nods to the real 16th-century samurai and to Chiba's role in the 1980s Japanese series Shadow Warriors.

Why is the Bride's fight against the Crazy 88 in Kill Bill: Volume 1 shown partly in black and white?

To avoid an NC-17 rating in the United States, the House of Blue Leaves massacre switches to black and white at its bloodiest; the Japanese release kept the whole sequence in colour.

What is the name of the deadly move the Bride uses to finally kill Bill in Kill Bill: Volume 2?

The Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique, taught to the Bride by Pai Mei, strikes five pressure points; once the victim takes five steps the heart bursts, which is how Bill dies.

What is the Bride's real name, finally revealed in Kill Bill: Volume 2?

The Bride's name, Beatrix Kiddo, is bleeped out whenever it is spoken in Volume 1; Bill finally says it aloud in Volume 2, and her Deadly Viper codename was Black Mamba.

The Pussy Wagon from Kill Bill later made a cameo in the music video for which 2010 song?

'Telephone', Lady Gaga's 2010 duet with Beyoncé, features the yellow Pussy Wagon in its Jonas Åkerlund-directed video; Tarantino, who kept the truck after the shoot, lent it for the clip.

On which 2005 Robert Rodriguez film was Tarantino credited as 'Special Guest Director' for a car scene?

Sin City credits Tarantino as 'Special Guest Director' for the car scene between Clive Owen and Benicio del Toro; he reportedly took a $1 fee, returning the favour after Rodriguez scored Kill Bill for the same sum.

The 2007 Grindhouse double feature paired Tarantino's slasher with which Robert Rodriguez zombie film?

Planet Terror, Rodriguez's half of Grindhouse, has Rose McGowan's go-go dancer Cherry Darling fitted with a machine-gun leg; the double feature flopped on its April 2007 US release and the two films were split for overseas release.

Who plays Stuntman Mike, the killer with rigged stunt cars, in Tarantino's half of Grindhouse?

Kurt Russell plays Stuntman Mike, who murders young women with his reinforced 'death-proof' stunt cars, a 1970 Chevy Nova and a 1969 Dodge Charger; Russell, the star of Escape from New York, was a hero of Tarantino's youth.

Which stuntwoman, the Bride's double on Kill Bill, plays herself in the climax of Tarantino's Death Proof?

Zoë Bell, the New Zealand stuntwoman who doubled the Bride throughout Kill Bill, plays herself riding the hood of a white 1970 Dodge Challenger in the climactic 'ship's mast' car chase.

Which of his own films did Tarantino call 'the worst movie I ever made' at a 2012 directors' roundtable?

Tarantino told a 2012 directors' roundtable that Death Proof was 'the worst movie I ever made', adding that if that was as bad as it got, he was doing fine.

Inglourious Basterds is a misspelled nod to a 1978 war film by which Italian director?

Enzo G. Castellari directed The Inglorious Bastards (1978), the Italian war film whose title Tarantino borrowed; he called the misspelling 'a Basquiat-esque touch', and Castellari cameos as a German general at the premiere scene.

Which comedian was Tarantino's first choice for Donny 'The Bear Jew' Donowitz in Inglourious Basterds?

Adam Sandler was Tarantino's first choice for the bat-wielding 'Bear Jew', but he was committed to Judd Apatow's Funny People; Eli Roth took the part instead.

Which Inglourious Basterds character won Christoph Waltz prizes at Cannes and the Oscars?

Hans Landa, the SS colonel nicknamed 'the Jew Hunter', won Christoph Waltz the Best Actor prize at Cannes in 2009 and the Best Supporting Actor Oscar; it was his first major English-language role after decades in German-language TV.

How many Best Supporting Actor Oscars has Christoph Waltz won for Tarantino films?

He is the only actor to win two Oscars under Tarantino, for Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained.

Django Unchained takes its title from a 1966 Spaghetti Western directed by whom?

Sergio Corbucci directed Django (1966), the violent Spaghetti Western starring Franco Nero; Nero cameos in Django Unchained, asking Jamie Foxx's Django how his name is spelled ('The D is silent').

What was Christoph Waltz's Dr. King Schultz before becoming a bounty hunter in Django Unchained?

A dentist by trade, Dr. King Schultz has given up teeth for bounties, but he travels in a wagon with a giant molar bobbing on a spring above it.

Which of these was considered for the title role in Django Unchained before Jamie Foxx was cast?

Will Smith was Tarantino's first choice for Django and met with him about it, but passed, later saying the part wasn't the film's true lead; Idris Elba was also mentioned before Jamie Foxx was cast.

Who plays Django's wife Broomhilda von Shaft in Django Unchained?

Kerry Washington plays Broomhilda von Shaft, Django's German-speaking wife held at Calvin Candie's plantation Candyland; Washington had earlier played Jamie Foxx's on-screen wife in Ray (2004).

Leonardo DiCaprio really cut his hand while filming which Django Unchained scene?

The phrenology dinner speech, in which Calvin Candie brandishes a skull, is where DiCaprio slammed his hand onto a glass; he carried on in character, bleeding, and the take was used.

Why did Tarantino nearly abandon The Hateful Eight in January 2014?

The script leaked online in January 2014 after Tarantino had shared it with only a few actors; he vowed to shelve it, staged a live reading that April, then relented and shot it in Colorado.

The Hateful Eight was released in a roadshow version on which extra-wide film format?

Ultra Panavision 70, a 65 mm anamorphic format with a 2.76:1 frame, had not been used for a feature since Khartoum in 1966; the 70 mm roadshow version ran with an overture and intermission.

Which composer won his only competitive Oscar for scoring The Hateful Eight?

Ennio Morricone, then 87, won Best Original Score for The Hateful Eight after five previous nominations without a win; it was his first full Western score in 34 years.

Most of The Hateful Eight takes place in a snowbound stagecoach stopover called what?

Minnie's Haberdashery is the stagecoach lodge where the bounty hunters shelter from the blizzard; the set was built on a ranch near Telluride, Colorado, and most of the film plays out inside it.

In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, what is the name of DiCaprio's fading TV-Western star?

Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, once starred as bounty hunter Jake Cahill in the 1950s TV Western Bounty Law; by 1969 he is reduced to guest-villain parts in shows like Lancer.

What is the name of Cliff Booth's pit bull in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?

Brandy, Cliff Booth's pit bull, mauls two of the Manson family intruders in the finale; the dog's performance won the Palm Dog award at Cannes in 2019.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was the first Tarantino film made without which producers?

Bob and Harvey Weinstein, through Miramax and then The Weinstein Company, had released every Tarantino feature from Reservoir Dogs to The Hateful Eight; after the 2017 abuse allegations against Harvey, Tarantino took the film to Sony.

Who plays Lancer star Wayne Maunder in his final film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?

Luke Perry, who died in March 2019 at 52, made his last film appearance as Wayne Maunder, the real-life Lancer lead, in the Western-within-the-film scenes opposite Leonardo DiCaprio.

Which open question does Tarantino's 2021 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood novel settle?

Cliff Booth really killed his wife: the novel states flatly that he shot Billie with a speargun on their boat and got away with it, and it fills in his wartime record.

What is the title of Tarantino's 2022 non-fiction book about the films of the New Hollywood era?

Cinema Speculation, published in 2022, mixes memoir with essays on 1970s films such as Bullitt, Dirty Harry and Taxi Driver; Tarantino has cited Pauline Kael, his favourite critic, as an inspiration for the book.

What was the title of the tenth-film script Tarantino developed and then abandoned?

The Movie Critic, set in 1977 and announced as his tenth and final film, was dropped by Tarantino in April 2024 after more than a year of development; he had long said he would retire after ten features.

Which Los Angeles cinema did Tarantino buy in 2007, promising it would always show 35 mm?

The New Beverly, a revival house on Beverly Boulevard, was bought by Tarantino in 2007 after owner Sherman Torgan died; he took over its programming in 2014 and added a second film-only theatre, the Vista, in 2021.

Tarantino co-wrote and directed 'Grave Danger', the 2005 season finale of which TV series?

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation's two-part season-five finale 'Grave Danger' (2005), in which Nick Stokes is buried alive, earned Tarantino a Primetime Emmy nomination for directing.

Which editor, Tarantino's 'number one collaborator', cut all his films until her death in 2010?

Sally Menke edited every Tarantino film from Reservoir Dogs to Inglourious Basterds and was Oscar-nominated for Pulp Fiction and Basterds; she died while hiking in Los Angeles in 2010, and Fred Raskin took over from Django Unchained onward.

Which actress has Tarantino described as his 'muse', having featured her in three of his films?

Uma Thurman, whom Tarantino has called his muse, starred in Pulp Fiction and both Kill Bill volumes; the two conceived the Bride together during the Pulp Fiction shoot, and she shares the 'Q&U' character credit on Kill Bill.

Which fictional brand of cigarettes recurs across Tarantino's films in place of real product placement?

Red Apple cigarettes turn up from Pulp Fiction to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, alongside Big Kahuna Burger, Jack Rabbit Slim's and K-Billy radio among Tarantino's invented brands.

In 1998 Tarantino made his Broadway debut, to poor reviews, in a revival of which 1966 thriller?

Wait Until Dark, Frederick Knott's 1966 thriller about a blind woman terrorised in her apartment, was revived on Broadway in 1998 with Tarantino as the villain Harry Roat opposite Marisa Tomei; critics savaged him.

Which director publicly criticised Tarantino in 1997 for his frequent use of racial slurs in Jackie Brown?

Spike Lee complained in 1997 that Jackie Brown used the slur dozens of times, asking what Tarantino's fascination with the word was; the two directors' feud flared again over Django Unchained in 2012.

Which Chuck Berry song do Vincent and Mia twist to at Jack Rabbit Slim's?

'You Never Can Tell', Chuck Berry's 1964 single, plays as Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace twist in the Jack Rabbit Slim's dance contest; the routine became one of Pulp Fiction's signature images.

In 1995 Tarantino formed Rolling Thunder Pictures with Miramax to do what?

It put out titles such as Chungking Express before Miramax shut it down in 1997 for poor sales.

Which 1977 Burt Reynolds film inspired the screenplay Tarantino wrote at 14, Captain Peachfuzz?

Smokey and the Bandit (1977) inspired 'Captain Peachfuzz and the Anchovy Bandit', the script Tarantino wrote at 14; his mother mocked his 'little writing career', and he later vowed never to share his future wealth with her.

Which two studio projects did Tarantino turn down after Reservoir Dogs, retreating to Amsterdam to write Pulp Fiction?

Speed and Men in Black were both offered to Tarantino after Reservoir Dogs; he turned them down and holed up in Amsterdam for several months writing Pulp Fiction in a rented flat.

From 2002 to 2004 Tarantino played the villain McKenas Cole in which ABC spy series?

Alias, J.J. Abrams's ABC spy series, cast Tarantino as the sadistic McKenas Cole in 2002 and brought him back in 2004; that same year he presided over the Cannes jury.

Tarantino helped produce Freedom's Fury, a documentary about a 1956 Olympic match in which sport?

Water polo's 'Blood in the Water' match, Hungary against the USSR at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics weeks after the Soviet invasion, is the subject of Freedom's Fury; Tarantino and Lucy Liu were executive producers.

Which actor has appeared in five films directed by Tarantino, plus a sixth that he wrote?

Samuel L. Jackson acted in Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill: Volume 2, Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight, narrated Inglourious Basterds, and also appeared in one of the early films Tarantino wrote for another director.