Last Updated on August 5, 2021
DJANGO UNCHAINED is one of the most anticipated movies on this site, and indeed probably the cinema-going world over. A new release from Tarantino just kind of does that to people. And as part of his promotional efforts for the film, Tarantino did an interview with Playboy that goes into all sorts of fun truths and hypotheticals, from casting the title role to getting high while working to his ideal wife to when he might retire. It’s a fascinating sneak peak into the mind of one of cinema’s most distinct directors, and you can check out the excerpted interview below.
Or you can pick up the December issue of Playboy on November 20th. Or both.
DJANGO UNCHAINED is… coming soon… to a cinema near you. December 25th, to be precise.
On casting: “I met six different actors and had extensive meetings with all of them, and I went in-depth on all of their work. Idris Elba, Chris Tucker, Terrence Howard, M.K. Williams [“Boardwalk Empire”], Tyrese [Gibson]. They all appreciated the material, and I was going to put them through the paces, make them go off against one another and kind of put up an obstacle course. And then I met Jamie and realized I didn’t need to do that. He was the cowboy… Forget the fact that he has his own horse — and that is actually his horse in the movie. He’s from Texas; he understands. …He understood what it’s like to be thought of as an ‘other.’”
On what happened with Will Smith taking on the title role: “We spent quite a few hours together over a weekend when he was in New York doing MEN IN BLACK III… I think half the process was an excuse for us to hang out and spend time with one anothe. It just wasn’t 100 percent right, and we didn’t have time to try to make it that way.”
On how Calvin Candie was originally written for someone else: “I don’t want to say who, simply because when I finished the script, I realized they were a little older than I wanted the character to be. That’s a problem I have. I’ll be thinking about somebody and not take into account that I’m thinking of them from 20 years ago.”
On his feelings about Calvin Candie as a character: “I hated Candie, and I normally like my villains no matter how bad they are. …what I’m always trying to do…is get you to kind of like these guys, despite on-screen evidence that you shouldn’t. Despite the things they do and say and despite their agenda. I also like making people laugh at f**ked-up shit.”
On drug use: “I wouldn’t do anything impaired while making a movie. I don’t so much write high, but say you’re thinking about a musical sequence. You smoke a joint, you put on some music, you listen to it and you come up with some good ideas.…I don’t need pot to write, but it’s kind of cool.”
On rewriting history while retaining contextual truth: “You turn on a movie and know how things are going to go in most films. Every once in a while films don’t play by the rules. It’s liberating when you don’t know what’s happening next.…I thought, What about telling these kinds of stories my way — rough and tough but gratifying at the end?”
On the qualities of an ideal Playmate/wife/partner: “If I want to live in Paris for a year, what the f—? I can. I don’t have to arrange anything; I can just do it. If there is an actor or director I want to get obsessed with and study their films for the next 12 days, I can do that. The perfect person would be a Playmate who would enjoy that.”
On what happened in Aurora, CO: “I think that guy was a nut. He went in there to kill a bunch of people because he knew there would be a lot of people there… That’s no different from a guy going into a McDonald’s and shooting up people at lunchtime because he knows a lot of people will be there.”
On matching the quality of his early films: “I want there to be anticipation. I was actually quite proud when I read that DJANGO is one of the most anticipated movies coming out this year. It’s a black Western. Where’s the anticipation coming from? I guess a lot of it is me. That’s pretty f—ing awesome.”
And for all you fans out there, here’s the sad bit about when Tarantino might quit: “I just don’t want to be an old-man filmmaker. I want to stop at a certain point. Directors don’t get better as they get older. Usually the worst films in their filmography are those last four at the end. I am all about my filmography, and one bad film f—s up three good ones.…When directors get out-of-date, it’s not pretty. I’m on a journey that needs to have an end and not be about me trying to get another job. I want this artistic journey to have a climax. I want to work toward something. You stop when you stop, but in a fanciful world, 10 movies in my filmography would be nice. I’ve made seven. If I have a change of heart, if I come up with a new story, I could come back. But if I stop at 10, that would be okay as an artistic statement.”
Playboy’s 2012 Playmate of the Month Amanda Streich
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